Last Days of Life

The greatest mystery of life resides in its uncertainty; not knowing when we are going to die. If we knew, we would have also known about our last days and accordingly we could have mended / altered our life style in the remaining period of life. 

What would we be changing in our last days; good from bad, truth from lies, love from hate, care from ignoring, forgiveness from sins, and prayers from curses? Hopefully it is, because knowingly nobody would like to leave the world with a burden of life-long absurdities. 

Why the world cannot change, do good based on the unpredictability of life and why would good things begin happening around us once we came to know that our time is up? Why can’t people assume that they could also be lying frozen in caskets on their shoulders? Why do they think that their time is still not up like the one about to be buried?

The uncertainty of life holds great charm and excitement for the living people. A sudden death of some friend or acquaintance sends shock waves through our spine for a brief period. However, we immediately recover from this phase justifying ourselves that this death was an inevitable event for the deceased while ours is still not certain. 

As our breathing continues our thinking shifts to daily life problems, issues, commitments, responsibilities, intrigues, etc., hence, it is taken for granted that last days are still a distant possibility. 

And then there is a great distraction from “Last Days” in the disguise of “Average Life Expectancy”. The persistent improvements in the living conditions the average life expectancy goes on increasing and touches 70 years in our region or even beyond in case of developed western countries. People in my age group crossing into upper 50s always take a sigh of relief at this encouraging factor. Supposing that average life remains stagnant at 70, we still find ourselves comfortably placed, invigorated and pushing further our ambitions, new objectives and new targets. 

Ask young people if an aged person can have ambitions and they would smile meaningfully in return with the following comments; they should be seeking forgiveness of the Lord and making preparation for painless transition into hereafter. 

So, are we ready to accept that our last days have already begun? Logically, a normal and healthy person would never agree to it and would insist that they still have a long way to go. However, a person terminally ill and reeling for long would have no choice left with them but to give up and wait for painful departure, forever. 

The mysterious unknown finale of life makes it a chilling and challenging phenomenon. Those who believe in the accountability of their worldly deeds when encountering Lord, on rendezvous, in hereafter, would surely make persisting efforts throughout their life to become victors. Those who doubt it and argue that their journey started with the natural creation of the planet Earth and would end here eternally will probably keep enjoying every bit of life without fear of being resurrected and held answerable to how they lived. 

I am a fearful one and strong believer in the life hereafter. The “Last Days” has been haunting me for long now in spite of maintaining excellent health. But having said that I often slip from the righteous path like all other human beings who run an inherent weakness of getting magnetized to the circumstances, daily chores, and falling prey to the beauty of this world.  

The “Last Days of Life” would probably be never foreseeable!