We don’t like being reminded that we can die.
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Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?
They say, life is too short,
The here and the now
And youre only given one shot
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that weve got?
If I die tomorrow
Id be allright
Because I believe
That after were gone
The spirit carries on
I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
Im not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend
I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try
If I die tomorrow
Id be allright
Because I believe
That after were gone
The spirit carries on
Lyrics by john petrucci
Sorry, but it should be “that we will die”…
Well, Hervé, I did hesitate between “can” and “will”. I prefer “can”, because what I’m referring to here is the fact that we often act as if nothing could kill us, taking risks for example.
So what I’m pointing to here is not so much the inevitability of death, but more our mortal fragility.
Does that make sense?
You are right. Each of our actions are (hopefully) neglecting this possibility.
Why “hopefully”?
Well, I think it would be impossible to begin any simple action, thinking that we could not be able to finish it because of this possibility of death… So I think that we are able to be aware of it, but not to really consider it.
For example, I sometimes fly with some of my friends (although i’m not a pilot myself), and I’m aware that VFR airplanes can crash, but I never really think of it while flying.