My little one (age 11) occasionally has these contemplative moments where she's worried about us dying (after all, 44 and 52 are ancient in a tween's eyes). Last night, we got into the conversation of how she's concerned that she won't be there for me when I pass away (as in, literally there).

In perfect seriousness, she takes my hand during the conversation and says earnestly, "Mommy, I think more about you getting older than about Daddy, because you have more wrinkles than him."

Tags: alexandria, daily life, death, family

My response to this question in another forum:

I believe that what we see in the afterlife is what we expect to see. Christians will see Jesus, Wiccans will see the God/dess in whatever manifestation moves them, etc. Since the afterlife is really just the flip side of this world, the astral mirror of the material, then we must remember that what we perceive will be an illusion. Once we are consciously aware of that, we then move on to the next life.

I take comfort from the idea that this makes sense. This blip of life cannot possibly be all there is for the complex creatures that human beings are. This sliver of time cannot possibly be what makes or breaks our souls for all eternity, based on our imperfect actions.

Tags: afterlife, beliefs, death

... that I'm unhappy that al-Zarqawi is dead. He was a vicious man who personally beheaded people. But I also read that a woman and child were killed in the airstrike. That, especially the child, deeply saddens me. Along with al-Zarqawi's martyrdom in the eyes of his people, the death of a child will also hold their attention.

It is a hollow victory.

Tags: bush, death, political

It was the first time the 30-minute cockpit recording was played in public and the jury was transfixed by the words of both the hijackers who were believed to be aiming for the U.S. Capitol and the passengers who tried to stop them.
_______________________________

Cockpit voice recorder transcript of the final moments on Sept 11, and the struggle for control of the airliner.

Tags: 9/11, america, death, terrorism

Prayer to Eris, re: Katrina

I posted this on the 55 Underground as a "pagan perspective." We'll see how the non-pagans react.

Tags: death, nature, poem

asked on nonfluffypagans

About customs of what to do with one's body after death:

"how does your belief system influence your ideas of death and burial? Would it bother you to donate organs - giving life yes, but subjecting your own body to dissection on an operating table somewhere, to be buried or burned in pieces?"

My response:

"My body would be what is left behind of one linear lifetime, along a line of many lifetimes. It's not my first nor last life, so my soul would leave it behind without a lasting connection. That body's purpose was fulfilled. So if using the organs can aid someone still living, they are welcome to it."

Tags: death