READER’S CORNER

Dying to a new life
by Edison Baddal

Last April 6, while the world was commemorating the passion of Christ, 1 and others were at a neighbor’s funeral. I was among those who paid the last respects to a guy who died relatively in his prime while in government service. Ironically, he was 10 days shy of his expectant 53rd natal day when he expired on April 2. Conclusive clinical findings uncovered extensive and fatal damages to vital internal organs sparked by dengue as the cause of death.

In retrospect, the death was sudden and unsettling as earlier before he fell ill, he was palpably brimming with life and energy. In fact, he ferried government employees, who commute from the Mountain Province towns of Bontoc westward to Bauko, home every afternoon. He was forced to do this as many employees are usually stranded due to lack of regular ride after the exit time of work at 5 p.m. So that, despite the fact that his van was originally intended only for personal use, it became a public transport by necessity. Consequently, his untimely demise left a lot of commuter-employees scrambling for a ride after 5 p.m.

Needless to say, the death of a person with whom you have been acquainted for awhile is simply unacceptable. Barely two days later, somebody informed me in the morning of April 4 that a provincial official expired due to a fatal stroke the night before. The informant related that that latter died in Sinto, Bauko, after he delivered a speech at a proclamation rally. Though the second guy was not much known to me except for desultory acquaintanceship, his death came also a surprise nonetheless.

Anyhow, this just proves that the demise of anybody, whether an acquaintance, friend, foe or a besotted one, never fails to create a gamut of sentiments. A writer once professed that: “The death of one man diminishes me because I am part of mankind.” Undoubtedly, a situation like this where two familiar persons kick the bucket all of a sudden and leaves one a little disoriented and gushy to some extent. Stated differently, the consecutive deaths within days of each other in the same week is nothing short of a shocker.

The uncanny situation timed with the universal observance of the insufferable passion of the Christ is no less than horrendous. Certainly, as situations usually give rise to insights and hindsights, one is forced to ponder the true meaning of one’s life or wordly existence. Perceptively, such situation makes one cognizant of the reality that death strikes at any moment with one least aware of it.

The bible compares the occurrence of death as like that of a silent thief waiting on tiptoe stealthily at night and striking unnoticed. In like manner, it is like an unseen pitfall in which a victim is unsuspectingly drawn. In all cases, death is nothing less than a grim wake-up call for anyone to realize that we are all mere journeymen on earth. A spiritual song rhapsodizes this epigram in one of its lines which goes: “Man is only a pilgrim on earth.”

The bible further describes and compares man’s existence to various things as a mist, a shadow or a vapor. One’s bodily existence is comparatively very short. A hackneyed cliché at best despite the tenets of other people, a hundred years existence in the physical realm is nothing more than just a day too many when measured in the netherworld. The latter, termed by some mystics also as the Great Beyond, is where everyone is bound after one’s corporeal existence is extinguished.

Metaphorically, a person’s body is like a box which is a compilation of zillion cells divided into numerous organs. Said organs mechanically interact with each other at regular, rhythmic intervals as naturally arranged for the maintenance of all bodily systems in the human morphology. Without being least metaphysical on lie and its purpose, the physical body, on insight, is not all there is to life. This is because it is corruptible and incessantly buffeted by desires that cater mostly to the base instincts of man. It is not the be-all and end-all of life. Essentially, the flesh is considered as a device for biological processes. In view hereof, there is a peremptory need to focus attention and energy to a more sublime composition of man which is the intangible but the more vital part: the spirit and soul.

Theologians opine that man is composed of the body, spirit and soul. The spirit and soul are boxed in the body and are the invisible elements in man. These elements are interlinked with the supernatural ether or divine providence itself. It is the steering wheel that stimulates the actions exhibited by the body. Theologians have contended that the spirit consists of the emotions that could be either godly or malevolent. It is presumed that the use of the emotion, which either shows the better angels of man’s nature or otherwise, and the use of the mind, which either promote goodness or the reverse in words and actions, sum up one’s character.

The character, therefore, is a spinoff of a person’s temperament manifested by actions guided by human spirit. One’s character matters most to the Creator. The bible teaches that ways attuned to the dictates of the scriptures are considered great characters while those forward ones are considered base or despicable characters. A great character is tantamount to epitomizing righteousness or holiness. Righteousness or holiness is usually the state of character in which the personification and embodiment of providential virtues, underpinned by humility, are manifestly evident. Such virtues are required stringently from very human being while alive and kicking in the flesh.

By no means a mordant articulation or dissection of the relation between the body, spirit and soul as such are definitely abysmal and abstruse but one thing is quite clear on hindsight: In no way does providence regard one’s looks, abilities and much more wealth when gauging the qualities of each person. Only the standpoint of character is the main consideration. Character comes from the abundance of the heart as contrasted with the machinations of the mind.

Therefore, as the mid is always enmeshed in shrewd schemes, the Creator considers more the contents of the heart, which is the main base of character. Incidentally, it may happen that a person is grubby and homely but has a heart with a conscience while another may ooze with pulchritude but is vile and contemptuous. As it is, the heart is the valve of sluice that regulates the excesses of the mind but may likewise degenerate one’s nature. Succinctly put, one’s character mirrors the contents of one’s heart.

By all means, the gratification of the body is not the purpose of existence as it is supposed to be the vessel of God’s righteousness. Life then should is spent in ways that enhances one’s chances to reach Nirvana and be reunited with the Maker when end times come. This goes without saying that man’s ultimate end is not physical death but spiritual rebirth with God or eternal damnation in the lake of fire whichever is one’s choice.

Just like the Resurrection of Christ that occurred after His physical death to manifest His victory over death itself, so too must man die in order to shed the body and be united with God in spirit. Just like the proverbial mustard see that decayed after falling to the ground in order to produce a new and more robust one than before, so too is man fated to die in the body to share the glory of the New Life with Christ when reckoning comes.

A probing question then that might be asked is: Is there life and death after death? The bible states in no uncertain terms of the certainty of a new life after physical death with a spiritual union with God but only if one’s life was lived in righteousness. In the same vein, a spiritual death ensues (a second death actually) after the demise of the physical body when a spiritual union with God will not be attained due to unrighteous life of the deceased. Bluntly stated, life lived righteously culminates in eternal joy after physical death while a life lived slovenly ends up in eternal damnation thereafter.

Now this totally runs counter to the specious contention of Jacques Roseau, a philosopher during the 19th century, that: “Man and generally any rational being exists as an end in himself and not merely as a means to be used by this or that will. This is implausible and nothing less than a rambling phantasmagoria of a mere mortal vainly trying to play god.

A related question that might be posed is: Can one be dead while alive in the physical body? The answer is a resounding Yes. A person’s life spent entirely on wordly matters devoid of spirituality is considered spiritually dead even while one is moving about in the physical body.

Finally, the joy and thrill of real living while still in the flesh is to have spiritual rebirth by acknowledging Jesus Christ as one’s Savior and Lord. St. Paul strongly exhorted the brethren in the Book of the Phillippians with these words: “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. This timeless and ageless message remains true then as it is today and it will be so forever.