Death, and How to Cheat.

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another."

-Meditation XVII, John Donne


"Cheat death,” says the hot pink billboard. "Beat back the hands of time” says my face cream. Though I am all about staying away from wrinkles I find it hard not to admit that there was no deep satisfaction or success in "cheating death". It must be a factory defect but unlike what the girl on TV said, that new skirt did not make me feel any more invincible than I already was or wasn't. But let us leave the poor advertisement aside and think of the juvenile but hearty expression, "life is an ice cream, enjoy it while it lasts". We grow up with dreams and ambitions. Our want never ends and one could argue that there is nothing wrong with wanting a rich exciting life. Advertising sells only what we want to buy and it seems like we are most interested in dealing with death as quickly and as neatly as possible. It is quite rude to bring up the subject matter at the dinner table unless it involves some sad or shocking detail, enough to make you think "thank god it wasn't me". I will not be so presumptuous as to generalise, I will only talk of my experience. Everyone around me is rushing to have "too much fun". Sex and the City makes it abundantly clear that this is a time and place where not only can a woman choose her own posse of sexual casualties but she can also laugh about it with her girlfriends at the bar. If the collective of women went through centuries of unjustified gender discrimination then this is reverse discrimination in its worst form. A form that is eventually self-destructive. And if you have any doubt about my criticism coming from a sanctimonious pedestal then be rest assured. Look closely at my past life and dare to call it what it is and you will see sin written all over it, well, most of it. I was one of those who sought that kind of physical gratification. One of the reasons this happens is a fear of commitment, age and death. I am not surprised. An Atheist believes there is nothing after death. That we are all but descended from monkeys and monkeys we will be. Poof, we will disappear into nothingness. No wonder then one wants to have as much fun as possible.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but what happens here on Earth comes home with us. Of course we are entitled to a good time. Of course we should climb as many mountains as we want to before we die, take that road trip, jump out of an airplane, sail, swim, surf. Smell the roses. He didn't create this phenomenal ecosystem for us to suffer deprivation and sacrifice. However, we do know what is good, clean fun and what are twisted power trips. Somewhere deep down we know. If not theoretically then from the fact that, that kind of fun usually never satiates our hunger.

Our liberties have the power to delude our reason. We end up making idols of ourselves and our opinions. Idols of our education and our bodies. No wonder, we are so often unable to differentiate love from lust. No wonder, we are unable to enjoy the freedom of being able to tell "right" from "wrong", becoming slaves to an absolute policy of "to each his own". The loophole in this kind of worship, is that idols, have a very finite life. We secretly fear death and associate old age with boredom, responsibility and the end of our current pleasures. As a result, in cyclical fashion, we get even more determined to justify the fulfilling of our temptations.

There is a difference between the way we treat a holiday hotel room and (hopefully) the way we treat our home. The former is a no strings attached, short-term affair. You are paying big money for housekeeping and room service. With the latter, you keep on track with leaks in the roof, mortgage, and insurance. In case you spill soda on the carpet, you know you will have to clean up the mess yourself and possibly end up with a permanent stain. If you are to believe that men are just vessels of chemistry, with no spirit, with no origin of God, that we will disappear into nothingness after death, and that everything Christ says is a lie,
then go ahead treat your life like a hotel room. Overdo the room service, watch the pay-per-view, have a brain numbingly good time, heck, if it’s your thing even call that hooker. But if you believe that we are sons and daughters of God and to Him we shall return, that Christ had put himself on the cross to give us eternal life-if you believe in that everlasting life, then treat your life like a home.

We do not have to abandon desire. Often, people think of Christians as these stolid martyrs. But if you are true to the heart of Christ, then you will agree that we are essentially creatures made of deep desire and passion. In the second letter to the church of Corinth, Paul writes, "See what this Godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done." (2 Cor 7:11) Will you not agree that such words could only come from a place of deep passionate desire? It is not important how many times we fall on the way. It does not matter how wobbly our steps are. He knows. If you sincerely feel love for Him, if you sincerely care, He will know. As George MacDonald brings to our attention, every father is pleased at the baby's first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son.

If we have an eternal relationship with God then it is only natural that there will be rest. That confusing hunger will be satisfied in the end. No amount of "transcendental" sex and giggly drinking binges will kill that hunger. Not even a completely righteous, moral life-plan will do it. It will have to be love. Immense love, adoration, trust and an unrestrained friendship with God.

When Jesus runs into the Samaritan woman at the well, he knows that in spite of the five husbands she has had, and the sixth man she is living with, she is still thirsty. He says to her "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." At her disbelief and confusion, He goes on to say, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."