The Two Certainties of Life My dad used to say, “There are only two certainties in life, death and taxes. We talk about taxes but not about death”.

Having been to several non-COVID-19 related funerals recently I’ve begun to think more about death. I regard it as the ultimate adventure because we know so little about what happens when our spirits leave our bodies.

My mother wouldn’t talk about death until she was faced with the reality that it would happen to her. I was present when she died and it was an interesting experience.  She had a heavy degree of senile dementia and didn’t recognise us (me, Diane and Theresa) as being there. Suddenly she sat up in bed and said very clearly to someone at the bottom of the bed who we couldn’t see, “Oh, it’s you”. She lay back down and stopped breathing.

What is death? As energy cannot be destroyed, merely changed in form, then basic physics suggests that it’s a transition from one state to another. I look forward to it, not just yet, I’ve got so much to do. Those people who talk about their Near-Death-Experience normally say it changed them in some way. The American neuro-surgeon, Eben Alexander, a definite sceptic, wrote his experience in his book, Proof of Heaven. I wouldn’t say it was proof of heaven but it’s definitely proof that death is not the end of existence.

I believe some people have a hard time coping with death because we don’t talk much about it beforehand. And I’m not convinced that a priest is necessarily the best person to talk to. You might be better off talking to a vet or a soldier with battle experience. And taxes? Talk to an accountant, you might be pleasantly surprised. For more on this theme please visit www.handsonthinking.uk