Death Diary (Entry 54)

Entry fifty-four

I have a voice too, you know. I would describe it as…soothing. Most might consider me harsh and maybe even cold sounding…but rather, I think I am soothing. Relaxed, if you will. Though I do not participate in much conversation, I do like to speak to myself sometimes…or maybe I’m speaking to nothing at all. Maybe that’s why I envy singers so much. They can burst forth in song and let the world hear their voice…but I am just a background piece. I am the one who works silently and does my work without sound and without praise. How I yearn to be heard.
I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start by telling you where I am. Well, it’s blue…very very blue. The sky is cloudless and the sun could not be brighter. The chill of winter is starting to shrink away as spring warmth begins to take its hold on the country side. I’ve developed a bit of a sore throat from breathing in the intense cold for so long. I’m sure you can sympathize. However, as the spring draws near, I have little time to relax, as I am still being kept busy. But I’m not too upset…spring is one of my favorite times of year. It’s the season of life, after all. When new life gives way to destruction.

It’s an odd paradox, isn’t it? That I would love life? But I do…for without life there can be no death. I have a true appreciation for life, which is why I love observing humanity as it walks through life. What decisions will you make? What things will you come up with? What paths will you walk in your attempt to make the most out of your brief time on this earth? The odd thing though is that, when I do come to remove a life, I often get asked “Why is life so cruel?” Cruel? Why is life so cruel? I hardly see life as cruel…I see it as a changing theme…a shifting of seasons and momentum. Sometimes life presents many blessings in your path for you to seize…and then other times it will present challenges and obstacles for you to overcome. I hardly see this as cruel.
Don’t misunderstand me…I understand that life can seem unfair at times. I’ll give you an example: About a week ago I came to a college to collect the soul of an 18 year old freshman who had gotten drunk and was too wasted to realize where he was walking. He stumbled out into the middle of a street and was hit by a car. He was dead on impact and I removed his soul with ease. To many this seems cruel, as the boy barely had time to live and make the most of life… people say things like “What is the point of living in such a cruel world?” or “Why is life so unkind?” and it is that kind of instance that leads many to question God Himself. “If there is a good and loving God, then he wouldn’t allow life to be so cruel.” I hear this more often than you may think…so allow me to shed some light on the “cruelty” of life.

There are two kinds of cruelties on this earth…those caused by man and those caused by nature. This boy that I collected made the choice to get drunk despite being underage, and made the choice to walk home rather than call someone to pick him up. You cannot blame life or God for this…this was his choice and it lead to the consequences. I am NOT mocking or belittling the boy! I assure you that my heart hurts for him as well…but keep in mind that when tragedy happens do to the choices and actions of others, this is not a result of “the cruelty of living” it is a result of bad choices and people’s decisions.
As for the cruelties of nature, such as disease and natural disasters, these are things beyond humanities control. Truly, such things are hard to stomach and can break the spirit…but they are not the result of cruelty. Why? Because cruelty is a conscious desire to be evil, and I assure that nature is not cruel…it is unbiased. Nature cannot decide who lives and dies. It merely is. Take a lion for example. If a lion kills and eats a zebra, the lion is not cruel, is it? It is merely acting on its natural instinct to kill and eat. In the same way, is a tornado that sweeps through a city cruel? No, because a tornado is just another natural occurrence. It may seem unfair and we may hate it…but in the end, this is the way of nature.
Now, I’m not going to dive into theology and religion here, but as I have a voice to speak…I shall do so. When people say “Why would God allow such things to happen?” I would like to point something out: Without God…what would be good and evil? Who would determine what is right and wrong? Surely not mankind…for mankind has proven time and time again to be untrustworthy and fickle people. Why is mankind born with a sense of right and wrong if not for a higher power that sets the standard? In the end…there would be no sense of good an evil unless there was an Ulitmate Good that set the standard beforehand.

As we near the spring season, it is a time for change…a time for new beginnings. I did not write an entry during New Years, because I had too much going on…but keep in mind that this is a new year with new opportunities and new chances. Life begins a new with the spring, and you can choose to approach it with contempt and anger…calling it cruel and unfair. That is your choice. But I feel it more productive to approach it with vigor…with enthusiasm. Make the most of the time you have on Earth so that, should the unpredictable and the uncontrollable “cruelties” of life come your way you will be prepared for them.

That’s all I have time to write today. I have much more work to get to. I hope to write again sometime soon. Take my words to heart.

Sincerely,

Death