Life is Fleeting and Death is Our Enemy

 By Sicebise Msengana 

This morning I woke up thinking about the finitude of life and I hate the fact that religion has a monopoly on death. As a result, it promises us life after death. It's alright to mourn the deceased as they deserve, but not to the extent that it brings our own lives to a halt.

If there is a blissful afterlife with pearly gates, we have nothing to worry about, and if there is not, then death is a peaceful, dreamless sleep, free of human suffering, free of worry, free of pain, poverty, corruption, hunger, wars, diseases and evil.

Life is fleeting. There's no human being who has not been touched by death or will not succumb to it. Death doesn't respect power, wealth, social status and accomplishments.

When you are in darkness, even the smallest gleam of light seems far brighter by comparison. The secret to life is to take pleasure in the small things -- to find beauty in the mundane. Life is fragile. All life is a struggle for survival, dominated by predators above and parasites below, and all living things are at the mercy of vast and impersonal natural forces that could wipe them out at any time.

Life is limited. We are like dew that burns off in the morning. Every precious second is ticking away like sand falling inexorably through an hourglass. Life ends; however, that is not a reason to despair, but a reason to celebrate life and all it has to offer. Life is valuable because it's unique and precious because it's fragile.