Reflections of a temporary life form

#76 - On Immortality

"One must pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive."
—Friedrich Nietzsche

In Northern Greece, at St. Paul's Monastery, an ancient message is inscribed above the door.

"If you die before you die, you won't die when you die."

When I look back at my younger self, I feel a deep sense of compassion for that confused boy. He was so afraid to live, he earnestly thought he wanted to die.

But that boy had no idea who he was.

He acted as if he wanted to die physically, but deep down, what he really wanted was to embrace life. In fact, he craved living, and his constant refusal to let his old mindset die fueled his depression.

After years of resistance, that boy then experienced a cascading series of events which presented him, over and again, with the same question.

"Are you ready to live?"

And eventually, despite his self-imposed fears of the unknown, he became uncomfortable enough in his stagnation to say yes to the calling.

Image via Threshold Medicine

It is natural for experiences to die. They’re fleeting teachers. And each death is followed by the birth of an evolved perspective.

At this point, I've died so many times, I no longer remember the first one. It was probably a great story, but ultimately the impressed effects matter much more than their cause.

Every time I am re-born, I am reminded how each day dies at midnight. And when the Sun rises each morning, endless possibilities are birthed.

I am merely a penman for the Spirit of Inspiration. I create nothing. She whispers in my heart, and my hands translate.

To fear dying is to fear living, because the end ain't the end.

It's a new beginning.

And all is well.

I’m on the road, driving another couple thousand miles this week. And I know exactly what I have to do when I get back home.

Hold me in your heart, would ya?

Love,