Unpopular side with Thomas Oti
Email: thomasoti@qed.ng
No, you don’t keep on living Milli Vanilli. Sorry.
At death, what really happens? How would you like to die? What is the ideal way to die? Is it possible to look forward to death? Do we live the way we do because we are afraid of death? What happens to us when we die? What power does death have over us? Do we care after we die? If we spent however long on earth not having a recollection of whatever must have gone before we were born in our consciousness, why should we care about or “fear” death?
To die is relief. When is it good to die? How old is old enough to die? If you live to 100 years and then die, is that a good death? If you suffer a debilitating illness over an extended period of time and then you die, is that a good death? If you die in the prime of your youth, is that a bad death? If your death frees others even when you are in the prime of your life, is that a good death? Who is to be pitied more; he who has died or he who is still alive “suffering” on this side of the great divide? Is it possible to prepare for death? How do you know when you are about to die? If we know when we were going to die, would the world be a better place for it? Or worse?
What if we can’t die? At least suddenly? What if no one can kill or maim us no matter what they do or try? What if we when we fall ill, our body could heal itself? What if we had regenerative abilities? What if we know when we will die and what would kill us? What if we knew why we die when we do die? What if we know where we go to when we die? What if we can keep coming back from wherever we die to? What if life is all just a continuum?
Why do we have to die? Why don’t we know what happens after we die? Why can we not be definitive about death and what happens after? Why is death, the meaning of life and all that jazz, such a mystery? Why are we so afraid of this unknown quality? Why do we live like we plan to live forever? Do we live forever? What could make us believe one or the other of the thousands of theories that exist about death and what happens next? How come we have such vibrant imaginations and fixations on death and whatever comes or doesn’t come after?
What comes after? You die. Then what? The minute your breadth ceases, what then? What happens to all you have lived for? Why live for all you have lived for and then die and leave them all behind? Why is it important to leave the world better than you found it? Why are some rich and some poor even when they started out the same? Why is the death of a big man a big deal and the death of a poor man a no deal? What is the best way to bury a dead person? With pomp and celebrations or quietly with dignity? What would the dead wish for if they could wish for anything? What should you commit to achieving in this life before you die? What should your life be about?
How do you prepare to die? How do you live so that death is not a fear? Why is death such a big deal? Again, why does nobody ask a baby where they came from and what it was like there? Where does human consciousness come from? Who teaches a baby to open its mouth and cry when it is born? Why can’t an adult’s consciousness be injected into a baby at birth or even before they are born so that the adult can see where they have come from and how they are made and come and report back? Would it be like that story that goes “even if someone came from the dead to tell them about death, they still would not be interested?” Or they would disbelieve them and instead think the baby has gone wonkers?
The world we live in is a hard place. But would what comes after be much worse? Is our fear of the unknown justified? Do we have a right or a reason to believe that there is more after this? Do we have a right to believe that anything we do here would affect what comes next? If we spend 80 years on earth and never for once catch a glimpse of what came before, what right have we to suppose that there is “something” after we die? Who are we to try explaining it away? What if a lot of the alternate ‘what if’ scenarios of life are the real deals? Is the absence of life, death?
Blessed are those who die…for they might see God.
It is a good season to die. In the field of sports at least. The Greatest of all Time. Gone. Muhammad Ali. The Greatest Coach one Time of Nigeria. Gone. Stephen Keshi. Another pretty great coach of Nigeria, much vilified but not without his positives. Gone. Amodu Shuaibu. Who’s next? Whose time has come now? Whose card is up? We can’t see you guys again. But if you can read this or see us, una get winch.
Peace. Out.
