Do not fear death. It is something too great to celebrate, too great to fear. Either it brings us to a judgment, so it is ours to control by the kind of life we live, or it annihilates us into the great rhythm of nature, and we join the eternal peace of the revolving heavens. In either case, I believe in my heart that it is ours to trust. – Kent Nerburn
I don’t really know if my dad feared death. He believed in a heaven and a hell, and he lectured me constantly about his fears that I and my children would go to hell because we weren’t going to church and practicing religion in a way that he thought was required to gain ‘eternal life.’ I’m curious to find out what my mom thinks.
As for me, I’ve gradually gotten less afraid of death in the last ten years. Whether or not there’s an afterlife doesn’t matter to me and Nerburn’s words are all the comfort I seem to need right now.