HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE
What are you willing to die for?
No one is exempted. We
will ALL die.
Everyone should be thinking and talking
about death even before it happens. For one,
it will make us feel more comfortable about
it when it finally happens to someone close
to us. And it surely will. Even if we die first, we
will have prepared our friends and loved ones
better for our death.
We will not know how we will die. No
one knows unless you are on your deathbed.
There are infinite possible ways to die. That
is not so much my concern. We can’t help it
anyway. It is not our choice.
I am writing this article to ask a specific
question about death. Answering it may give
us clearer direction in our lives. It may even
make life more meaningful and purposeful.
The question I am asking is this: if you had
to, what are you wiling to die for? Are you
willing to die for something?
This thought has been on my mind for
the past months. I keep wondering why some
people choose to voluntarily risk life and limb
for causes, for other people, for principles. I
think of soldiers, patriots, missionaries, first
responders, workers and doctors in refugee
camps, teachers and humanitarians in war-
torn places, etc.
Why do they do it?
Almost nobody wants to face death even
if it is inevitable. But to walk towards death
voluntarily for causes bigger than oneself is
admirably and defiantly heroic.
Many people say that the first law of life is
self-preservation. But Joseph Campbell, one
of my favorite writers, says that is only the
second law. The first law is that all life is One.
Ironically, life goes on because there
is death. Death, though involuntary, is a
necessity. Creatures must die for other
creatures to live. When Jesus voluntarily
chose death and willingly sacrificed his
own life, He was doing it for very important
reasons. He was willing to die to sa