Does Anybody Here Truly Not Fear Death?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='notardillacid' post='1131185' date='Nov 29 2006, 05:58 PM']
HEY, thats MY way to die.
thief
[/quote]


[quote name='RC _' post='1131196' date='Nov 29 2006, 06:04 PM']
She said she didn't want it.

idiot
[/quote]

[Winchester]

I have a grudging respect for death.

I do hate pain and foreknowledge.

A painless surprise death would be okay.

[Lil Red]

where's the debate?

[Sojourner]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1131176' date='Nov 29 2006, 04:56 PM']
Well, I don't want to die sliding down a razor banister, I'll tell you that!
[/quote]
OK, my teeth for some reason started to ache when I read that.


That's just WRONG

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Winchester' post='1131238' date='Nov 29 2006, 04:19 PM']A painless surprise death would be okay.[/quote]how about being unexpectedly flash frozen?

[Balthazor]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1131242' date='Nov 29 2006, 07:20 PM']
OK, my teeth for some reason started to ache when I read that.
That's just WRONG
[/quote]

that is not what aches on me.

[homeschoolmom]

There's an episode of Cheers where Norm and Cliff tell Fraiser that they are thinking up the worst way to die. Fraiser suggests, "Alone, with the knowledge that no one ever really loved you." And Norm told him he didn't really get the game. Then he suggested the razor banister...

At least it went something like that.

[toledo_jesus]

I saw a viking movie once where this Muslim caliph had something like a razor banister. It was an old movie.

[Balthazor]

Worst way to die:

Doing a schuplattler in the bathtub while shaving your legs.

[Socrates]

For some reason this makes me think of the recording on Pink Floyd's[i] Dark Side of the Moon[/i], at the beginning of "Great Gig in the Sky." - "I've never been frightened of dying. There's no reason for it, really."

I honestly don't spend much time worrying about death, though I'd be lying if I'd say it totally doesn't frighten me.
I've always hoped to die suddenly and dramatically, preferrably in a massive explosion or such, or doing something heroic, or at least fun. It's the thought of slowly wasting away in a hospital or nursing home that scares me.

And of course, I'd hope to be in a state of grace. The thought of eternal punishment in hell is frightening, although, unfortunately, it always feels somewhat abstract for some reason, and doesn't scare me as much as some priests have hoped. The thought of non-existence, though, is somehow much scarier than hell.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Socrates

[Era Might]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1131318' date='Nov 29 2006, 07:24 PM']I've always hoped die suddenly and dramatically, preferrably in a massive explosion or such, or doing something heroic, or at least fun. It's the thought of slowly wasting away in a hospital or nursing home that scares me.[/quote]
I would actually prefer to die wasting away. It would give me time to settle my affairs, and maybe exercise some well needed penance. At least I could say goodbye to my family as well. Although, I hate the idea of having to watch someone else waste away.

I also have a morbid fascination with the bedside scene, with the Priest hovering over you praying and anointing and absolving.

[onlygrace08]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1131376' date='Nov 29 2006, 08:09 PM']
I would actually prefer to die wasting away. It would give me time to settle my affairs, and maybe exercise some well needed penance. At least I could say goodbye to my family as well. Although, I hate the idea of having to watch someone else waste away.

I also have a morbid fascination with the bedside scene, with the Priest hovering over you praying and anointing and absolving.
[/quote]


Have you ever noticed how many saints have died of tuberculosis? I can't think of many right this second though... hmm... Does anybody still get tuberculosis?

[homeschoolmom]

Yes.

[uruviel]

Whatever God wants. Despite the desire to be in Heaven with Him, I desire more to do His will and live here for how long He wills. When He's ready to take me, I will gladly go. I would love to be a martyr, but that doesn't happen like it used to so you could say, people aren't persecuted for their faith like they were back then. The truth is I don't have my own will. I have my desires, but I desire His will fulfilled.
That is, if that makes any sense.

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1131376' date='Nov 29 2006, 07:09 PM']
I would actually prefer to die wasting away. It would give me time to settle my affairs, and maybe exercise some well needed penance. At least I could say goodbye to my family as well. Although, I hate the idea of having to watch someone else waste away.

I also have a morbid fascination with the bedside scene, with the Priest hovering over you praying and anointing and absolving.
[/quote]
The way I found the school I am attending was by interviewing the guy who had been dean here the school's first year. He had been dean at Notre Dame Law School for something like 20 years then retired and spent time starting up a couple of schools, St. Thomas Law in MN and an undergrad in South Africa. (St. Augustine, maybe? I can't remember)

Anyway, I talked to him because he was at the time doing volunteer work at the Indiana State Prison and was working with a center exploring the law as a healing profession, so I did a profile for the legal newspaper I was writing for. In doing the profile, I contacted the dean's priest, and asked him a bit about his parishioner's character. The priest told me one of the most moving bedside scenes I've ever heard ... I want to die this way.

The dean and his wife were married for 45 years before she died of cancer (this was probably 4 years ago now). The dean described his wife as a "superstar" -- "It was like playing basketball with Michael Jordan." The priest said he could see the couple's faith impact the family ... he once did a Mass for a family reunion, and he said he saw all the grandchildren watching their gramparents' examples of love and faith.

When she died at the hospital, she was surrounded by her family, and they were all holding hands as her spirit left. The priest said one of the dean's children had just had a baby of his own, so the imagery of the matriarch leaving, while connected to the new life just entering was particularly vivid.

Anyway, that's really how I want to go, if I'm not martyred.