Eternity of the present, your never-ending 'gift'

THE EDITOR: This month, at the end of his journey through life comprising four score and ten years, a kindly gentleman succumbed to cancer, but thankfully his illness was brief.

As he sat in bed, he lay in wait for the Grim Reaper, whom he faced without any fear. What would be the point of being afraid of the end of that which is inevitable? he would say.

We do not fear death because of the unknown, rather we look with uncertainty towards that time when our last thought follows us into the grave.

Death and time are the two greatest mysteries that science will never comprehend.

Physicists say that time had its beginning 14 billion years ago. This is confirmed by Saint Paul in 2 Timothy 1:8-10, "Jesus gave us grace before time began."

Many, unknown to each other, have been to the edge and looked beyond, and have recounted experiences quite similar to a life after life.

How could we mere humans understand that our destiny is to experience no change?

Dwell on this and know that after your time ceases, there is only the eternity of the present, your never-ending "gift."

"What the caterpillar perceives as the end, to the butterfly is just the beginning" (unknown).

Derek Walcott in the Joker of Seville puts it so well:

There is a sewer in the sky, my friends

He sews the seed of stars

This sewer's name is death, my friends

He sews that we shall die

As as I die before you, my friends

The harvest that I reap

Will be the memory of the times we shared

Till once again when we shall meet

CURTIS MOHOMMED

Woodbrook