|
|
Life & Death I write this on the day that the body of a young woman is flown back from Paris following her tragic death at the age of thirty-six. I am not at all impressed that she bore the title of Princess, but I am deeply moved by the tragedy of her death, and appreciate her courageous confrontation of personal problems as she struggled towards maturity. My heart is very much warmed by the care she has shown towards children, her own included, and her concern for people afflicted by disease and the damage inflicted by war mongering men in Africa. I have no doubt that Almighty God has welcomed Diana Spencer into the fullness of love that she always sought. Strange, is it not, that on a day to day basis we can take the gift of life for granted. Only when it is suddenly removed do we fully appreciate how fragile is the hold we have upon it. We are so embedded in life that we tend to take the gift for granted. Perhaps, also, it is such a great mystery that we cannot imagine finding a totally satisfactory explanation of how we come to be. We understand concepts of fertilisation and generation of life in a biological sense. Less thoughtful people appear to believe that the gift can be explained merely in such terms, especially as processes of artificial fertilisation become ever more refined and we witness embryos frozen and transplanted after years of arrested development. Medical science can give the impression that the whole process is almost mechanical. To many it would appear that man is in charge, in total control, that we are Lords of life and death. We are not, of course. Even should biological engineering develop to the ultimate point where artificially produced semen and ovum are combined to produce sustainable life men could not be credited with the creation of life. They would be, as now, pro-creators. I cannot imagine that biochemists ever will achieve such a remarkable breakthrough, but in theory it is just possible, though unnecessary. The world that God has made is awash with semen and female eggs. But let’s say that medical scientists work for the next couple of hundred years and achieve the unnecessary. What they would have achieved would be man-made replication of existing life-making processes. The true creator of life will honour His commitment, for God does not give a gift in order to withdraw it because of mankind’s foolish arrogance. When God the Creator gives a gift it is given for all time. Such is His nature. All of His acts are eternal, perfect and unalterable. "Ah but…!" I can imagine some exclaim. "Men would have done it! They would have created life!" Not at all. They would simply have created the conditions required for the generation of life, and just as men and women come together in the pleasurable act that creates life naturally, and perhaps unthinkingly claim that they are the creators, medical scientists might make the same claim: erroneously, for we are merely pro- creators, i.e. creators on behalf of the Creator and Father of All. God is always present in each act of creation, fully responsible for it. He did not merely establish a biological recipe and go away. Would be to God that we were all just as responsible. You Don’t Believe? You don’t believe in God the Creator? ‘'Tis a foolish act of unbelief. I shake my head sorrowfully, along with the psalmist, and join with him in proclaiming, "The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God!’" (Ps14.1). It is a foolish and insupportable statement, to state categorically "There is no God". It would at least be rational to say, "I do not believe there is a God", and then try to give reasons for your unbelief; and when you are confounded by the impossibility to then appeal to the unknown, saying: "God, if you exist let me know that you are." It is important to clarify the issue, and it is the experience of many that such a request will be answered, though it needs repetition, for God will not give the gift of faith in answer to an idle thought. The earnest and inquiring person will receive an answer, though you should be warned that it may be confirmed during moments of great distress, for we are the type of created beings who appear only capable of full recognition of our total dependence upon the Lord and Creator of life when artificial supports are knocked away and we are left barren, naked and hurting in our soul. When this happens be of good cheer, for He truly is a God of love, loving each one of us personally with a great and consuming love, that fire of forgiveness which Christ could not wait to see cast over all the earth (Lk.12.49). Life and Death considered in more detail below: Life What is life? We need to think about it. A piece of grass is alive. A bird or a fish is alive. Human beings are alive. Each has different characteristics. Plant life seeds and grows, rooted in the earth, warmed by the sun, moving upwards towards the light. There is no capacity for lateral movement, except when moved by the wind. According to the philosophy favoured by the Catholic Church, based upon Aristotle’s thinking as adopted by Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), every individual example of created life has an animus, an animating principle of life, or soul. Yes - a piece of grass, or a chrysanthemum, has a soul - as has an alligator or an elephant; and a human being. The central quality of a soul is that it animates matter which would otherwise be inanimate, in a variety of forms, each with limitations and possibilities. Whereas a piece of grass is restricted to growing upwards, attached to its roots and moving in the breeze, an eagle floats and soars in the air, while the antelope leaps over rock and crag and the salmon slips and churns through water. In addition to the power of movement a remarkable number of animals appear to have an additional capacity. They are able to think, or at least relate to the world about them. In varying degrees they - we - have intelligence. It is a continual curiosity to us that other animals have a power to perceive and understand, to react and communicate with each other, and with us, to a limited degree. It is a mystery. We can understand something of how they function, but not everything; though there can be no doubt, in the mind of a fair and honest human, that their intelligence is inferior to ours. It is stretching credulity to an intolerable degree to believe that a monkey, given time and a typewriter, could tap out "Macbeth". In fact, it is nonsense. A chimpanzee just does not have that kind of intelligence. Animals cannot ask questions such as, "How did I come into existence?" or "Is there an overall Creator?" - never mind answer them. It is clear that there is a fantastic difference in quality between the soul of man and other animals. Whatever about other animals the animating principle of life of a human being is of a non-material character (viz.: through our senses we can acquire a very good image of a rose, but the rose itself, being material, remains outside the mind). Our human capacity to know and love is a reflection of God.’s nature. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Each one of us is a spiritual and physical entity, and it is the soul that gives form to the body. The body can disintegrate but the soul cannot be destroyed . When death occurs, i.e. when my personal knowing, loving and animating principle of life ceases to animate the atoms that form my body, I, that centre of knowing and loving, continue to exist. All created life is surrounded by the unseen glory of the Creator: "Think of the flowers; they never have to spin or weave; yet, I assure you, not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these." (Lk.12.27) Death Death is not something that I can accept placidly, with a shrug of the shoulders and the thought "Oh, it just happens. It’s natural. You can’t change it." Such phlegmatic acceptance is beyond me. Death is the ultimate evil in the natural order of the universe – along with pain and suffering. I wish to know why a good and benevolent God should permit such evil. I would not if I were He, and I am sure that most share my opinion. But I do not wish to attempt an explanation here (see Evil). At this point I merely wish to examine the phenomenon of death, register that it exists. To the Christian there are two forms of death: death of the soul and death of the body. Death of the human soul is the condition whereby the person can not and will not participate in God’s love; ultimately hell. Death of the body we are all acquainted with – though not yet on a personal level if you are reading this! When death occurs the body decays and corrupts, gradually turns to dust. There is no escape. There can be no argument. It will happen, despite the efforts of some deluded humans to avoid the condition by having their bodies frozen in the hope of some scientific antidote of the future. Such attempts to avoid mortality would be mirthmaking except that it illustrates much frailty of mind, vain hope and delusion, among fellow humans who have failed to accept basic and essential truths about the nature and the meaning of life. I do not rejoice to see such delusion. Death is truly a dreadful and horrible thing. When one contemplates the corruption of the body of a loved one (or even of oneself): the eyes that smiled and flashed with love and laughter and intelligence, there can be no joy: not humanly speaking anyway. There is a universal tendency to believe, because life is such a precious thing, because people are so beautiful (even when we are a bit ugly!) that there must be something beyond this experience, something that will preserve and extend the value and beauty of the person. The impulse to believe in some sort of after life has created notions such as Heaven (perpetual existence of the disembodied soul) and various theories of different types of reincarnation. Notions such as these tend to be so vague and imprecise, so obviously the product of human speculation and, in some cases, imagination, that I would have great difficulty in accepting and believing them with any degree of certainty. I would have, for example, great difficulty in accepting the possibility of reincarnation, in the form of another person, or an animal or bird (as Hindus, Buddhists and Jainists believe). I have an awareness of my unique identity. I am just me, a recognisable personal entity, and I do not find it acceptable or rational that I can become an entirely different human person. People who believe that in a past life they were Napoleon, or a 13th century serving wench are delusional, quite clearly suffering from personality disorders. (If you think you are Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, or Elvis, please do not contact me! On second thoughts, do. I might be able to convince you that you are not who you think you are!) Yet the universal existence of a yearning for continuation of life, some form of immortality, gives rise to the suspicion that there may be something in it, and when I examine the problem more closely, realise that the soul or animus of a human being is something distinct from matter I appreciate that there are possibilities which I cannot reject out of hand, if I am wise. What I lack is proper information from a reliable and authoritative source: one way or the other. What would be a reliable and authoritative source? Certainly not any further imaginative speculation by any fellow human being, no matter how gifted and apparently inspired and informed. I have had enough of that. Reliable Guide? The only source of reliable information would be God Himself. Can I contact Him? Yes – but only in the Person of Jesus Christ. Of all the great teachers of men, of all the thinkers and philosophers and gurus only one person has ever said of himself, "I am the way, the truth and the life. He who believes in me will not die. ..... I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." The man who said this is either mad or is truly what he claims to be, God incarnate. On reading about him in the gospels, and listening to him, and gauging what he says, and meeting his mind, I discover no sign of madness. Quite the contrary: such strength and wonder is revealed, such innate authority, that as I begin to know and recognise him I find myself filled with awe. I am filled with amazement. He smiles upon me, and I can only worship (i.e. give worth-ship) and honour to a fellow man who is God. He alone is the perfect guide, the person who gives to me, and all who believe in him, the only antidote to death: eternal life. "This," he says, "is eternal life: to believe in me and he who sent me…". It is a big claim – worthy of investigation.
|