If Death Comes Now...

As a kid I had this bizarre notion of children being free from death. I supposed that dying was something meant exclusively for adults and the aged. How mistaken I’d been!

Soon I discovered that my idealised view just didn’t square with reality. Infant mortality quickly showed me that the enemy called Death doesn’t discriminate on the basis of age. Also, cases of miscarriage drummed it into my head that an unborn child is ‘dieable’ as soon as conception takes place.

Get yourself a local newspaper. What says the first obituary you see? Does it not say that one Mrs Dorothy Shaw died at 37? Didn’t the Dansvilles in your neighbourhood lose their teen child last year? Didn’t Alexander the Great, Jim Reeves, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro all pass on in their prime? All these are proof that Death is no respecter of age.

Death is the most irrational of all. It strikes blindly. Death doesn’t always respect our desire to live a hundred years or more. It ignores a doddery centenarian and takes away a boisterous six-year-old. That’s why people often portray Death as the Grim Reaper.

Many people hate to discuss the subject of death. They even shudder at the prospect of dying. But the grim reality is we’ll all die some day. Death is the ultimate destiny of all life. David in the Bible called it ‘the way of all the earth’ (1 Kings 2:2).

Saddest of all, Death sometimes comes for us when we don’t expect it. One woman slumped to the ground and died in the middle of a procession. One of my church leaders once passed away while reading his Bible in his room. You too could die before tomorrow. I could be gone before you’re done reading this post. I know telling you this really sucks, but isn’t that a fact of life?

So I think your worst fear shouldn’t be whether you could die today but what happens to you if you actually do? Are you fully prepared to meet your deadline? If you breathed your last this very hour, to which side of eternity would you go? Would you make it? Would there be a welcome song for you at the celestial shore?

Unfortunately, billions of people around the world journey through life without thinking about death. Instead, they are engaged in desperate pursuit of worldly things. They want to get more money so they can ride the best cars and buy bigger mansions. They believe they can start thinking about death when they reach 75 years and above. Such people are deluded for two reasons.

First, they don’t know for sure if they will see the light of the next day, not to talk of living for the next five, eight or fifteen years. Death can come for them ANYTIME. James 4:13-14 says, ‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.’

Second, the material things which preoccupy these people today will ultimately prove worthless. One may idolise money while on this side of life, but a time will come when such a one is given every note there is, they won’t be able to spend it. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether one dies old or young, naturally or tragically, rich or poor, happy or sad, fulfilled or frustrated; it only matters where one stands before the Creator. ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matthew 16:26).

Dear friend, do you want to wait until you reach 70 or 90 or 100 before you begin to think about death? Surely you’re in great danger because your life might be required of you tonight. Now is the best time to decide where you’ll spend eternity―delay could be costly.

The Futility of Religion

Religion has obviously failed to draw mankind an inch closer to God. It has instead occasioned bloodshed which hasn’t in anyway benefitted any individual or group. Can any statistician give the exact number of casualties during Russian pogroms, the Reformation and the Crusades? Over the years, religion has proven not to be a strong force for peace but in fact a barrier to peace. No wonder Carlespie McKinney wrote: ‘Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, controls people, deludes people.’

Read any newspaper. Listen to the radio. Turn on your TV set. What news reports appal you most and make you wish you were an alien living on the Moon? Likely they are those which speak of religious violence. Terrorism, which I believe is religion-motivated, has become a global trend afflicting modern society.

Almost everyday, the media inundates us with sickening reports on how extremists hide under the cloak of religion to commit heinous crimes against God and humanity. I was watching the news while preparing to write this post. Interestingly, the foreign scene segment of the programme broadcast a footage showing the wreckage of the US consulate which had been blown up in Benghazi, Libya. The attack was triggered by the release in America of a film which purportedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed. Four Americans were killed in the attack, including the US ambassador.

Fear of terrorists has made it real hard for us to walk in the street without suspicion. And believe me, such a fear is legitimate. The person beside you on board a bus or the train, at the bus stop, in the hotel lobby, at the amusement park, at tourist centres and other public places might be a suicide bomber. Statistics would even fail to quantify the bereavement terrorists have exacted on homes and nations.

Ironically, the more places of worship proliferate across the globe the more depraved humans tend to become. Yes, the more we seek to know the Creator through religion the more we actually alienate ourselves from Him through immoral lifestyles. Moral decadence has become a despicable hallmark of modern society. We’ve overcome our moral scruples and have begun to celebrate everything―music, shows, books, Web sites, magazines, cultures, ideas, lifestyles―which not only promotes immorality but also both heightens and glamorises it. Morally speaking, the 21st-century society is a chaos of crumbled walls. Society’s drift into the depths of moral depravity is proof that having countless faith-based organisations all around us isn’t a yardstick of godliness.

Over 55% of the world’s population are religious. These have established moral codes which guide their daily conduct. Still society today is steeped in vices. Can we say that religion has been able to keep humans on the straight and narrow?

In this country, we’re very religious but not godly. Churches and mosques dot the nooks and crannies of our streets. On Sundays, economic activities come to a standstill as Christians go to church. During the week they also hold several vigils. Similarly on Fridays, Muslims troop out in millions to worship Allah.

Despite our religiosity however, our attitudes towards one another are nothing to be proud of. Corruption and other vices have pervaded all levels of our national life. Sorry to say, our leaders, though very religious, are simply despicable. They generally are selfish, greedy, rapacious, wicked and insensitive to the plight of the masses. They stash public funds at the expense of the people.

The even more religious people are mere hypocrites. We’re unjust in all our dealings. We cheat, oppress, exploit and lie to ourselves. In summary, our evil attitudes belie our professions.

In a show of great ignorance, we slaughter one another all in the name of religion. Muslims and Christians in the country clash frequently and several souls are sent to early graves. The more volatile North has earned a ‘reputation’ as the hub of religious conflict. There Muslims kill Christians in their hundreds and vice versa. By so doing we throw several homes into grief. Thus we practise what negates our beliefs and true humanity. What a barbaric inclination!

Dear compatriots, it’s time we emancipated ourselves from the grip of spiritual darkness. Our religions are predicated on love, peace, tolerance, discipline, self-control, and above all, regard for the sacred gift of life. So let’s bury our religious differences, beat our swords into ploughshares and eschew violence. It’s only then we can record any meaningful national growth and development. Let’s remember that the maxim ‘United, we stand; divided, we fall’ always holds true for us.

All of us are caught up in a tangled web of an inescapable destiny. Our religious differences are too weak to separate us from this destiny. What affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly. A threat to an Igala man in the North is a threat to all; whatever smothers the existence of the Ijaws in the South smothers our national existence. Therefore, let’s learn to coexist despite our cultural and religious diversities. Now is the time to realise that any religious service that’s devoid of respect for the human life is absolute futility and will get us nowhere as a nation. God bless our country.

Quotes on this subject
Men never commit evil so fully and so joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions
―Blaise Pascal

Of all tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion has been the worst
―Thomas Paine

The most heinous crimes have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives
―Mahatma Gandhi