To be or Not to be - there in lies the rub!
To be or not to be that is the question: To sleep: Perchance to dream: Ay there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Must give us pause Hamlet
William Shakespeare remember him? Yes I remember that I did not care when I was younger, then and why after all these years should I care now?
Well because he was relevant then and now. And he was right on with the question “To be or not to be.”
German philosopher Schopanhauer offers these comments regarding Shakespeare’s question to be or not to be.
That our state is so wretched that complete non existence would be decidedly preferable to it. There is something in us however which tells us this is not so. This is not the end of things that death is not an absolute annihilation.
There is the rub indeed!
If death is not an absolute annihilation, the ultimate end if you will, then we must give heed to the words of Shakespeare and give pause.
Human nature may be the reason we push aside any thoughts of our own death but human nature cannot put off the inevitable. So we must give pause to what we know deep in our hearts that death is not the end.
So if death is not an end it must be a beginning. A beginning, that is totally foreign to our current experience. Exploring a concept that we find distasteful and difficult to get our mind around gives us ample reason to think about more pleasant things. But if we procrastinate we run the risk that death we catch us unprepared.
I am not so concerned that we make all our final arrangements, get the will and insurance in order and do what ever is necessary to leave our families financially set. Being financially responsible is admirable in all of us and an obligation as Christians we must take seriously.
But to focus solely on earthly things leaves us little time to reflect on our soul.
We have a God given inclination that tells us death is not the end. When we take the time to listen God uses people and circumstances to bring the realization to us that death is not the end but the beginning.
And there is the rub said Hamlet. We must give pause, to the new beginning all of us must face called death.
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Must give us pause Hamlet
William Shakespeare remember him? Yes I remember that I did not care when I was younger, then and why after all these years should I care now?
Well because he was relevant then and now. And he was right on with the question “To be or not to be.”
German philosopher Schopanhauer offers these comments regarding Shakespeare’s question to be or not to be.
That our state is so wretched that complete non existence would be decidedly preferable to it. There is something in us however which tells us this is not so. This is not the end of things that death is not an absolute annihilation.
There is the rub indeed!
If death is not an absolute annihilation, the ultimate end if you will, then we must give heed to the words of Shakespeare and give pause.
Human nature may be the reason we push aside any thoughts of our own death but human nature cannot put off the inevitable. So we must give pause to what we know deep in our hearts that death is not the end.
So if death is not an end it must be a beginning. A beginning, that is totally foreign to our current experience. Exploring a concept that we find distasteful and difficult to get our mind around gives us ample reason to think about more pleasant things. But if we procrastinate we run the risk that death we catch us unprepared.
I am not so concerned that we make all our final arrangements, get the will and insurance in order and do what ever is necessary to leave our families financially set. Being financially responsible is admirable in all of us and an obligation as Christians we must take seriously.
But to focus solely on earthly things leaves us little time to reflect on our soul.
We have a God given inclination that tells us death is not the end. When we take the time to listen God uses people and circumstances to bring the realization to us that death is not the end but the beginning.
And there is the rub said Hamlet. We must give pause, to the new beginning all of us must face called death.
