Notes on a Death Class
Okay, so as most (or at least some) of you know I enrolled myself in a class this semester titled, simply, Death. Most people said I was crazy, morbid, or weird for taking this class, but I think everyone should educate themselves on the ideas that have accompanied death because they do not simply apply to physical death but they remind us that we all need to remember our death is coming. Not only our own death but the death of everyone we know is imminent. Things I’ve learned through this class are to take everyday as an opportunity to be a better person,a better christian, a better friend, a better student, a better everything.
The thing is everyone takes things for granted. What are you taking for granted? Your significant other? Our earth? Your community or local government? Everything we consider a normal part of our lives could be gone in an instant. I read a book in this class by Joan Didion (famous author married to John Dunne, also famous author) called The Year of Magical Thinking. I cannot stress this enough, you need to read this book! Without giving away too much, it is about the year she went through after the “sudden” death of her husband of more than 40 years. She’s extremely honest about her thoughts during this year, almost to the point where you feel that you could be reading her personal journal. Its so hard to reach that point in your life when you can be completely honest with yourself and therefore others, but isn’t worth it? That honesty comes from complete understanding that you don’t know everything, that this world in tangible but ethereal, and that time is precious when you spend it foolishly.
Time is a funny thing. We spend a ton of time watching television in this country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm) “Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women.” And Sound Vision has this to say, “By the age of 65 the average American will have spent nearly nine years glued to the tube.” NINE YEARS?! What could you do in that amount of time? Make new friends? Grow closer to the ones you already know? Spend more time with your family? Grow closer to your God? And that is only one activity that soaks up so much of our time in this modern age. Time for a reversal? I think it’s time to start evaluating where our time goes because, after all, who/what you give the most time to is your god.
London Fog 