Life and death

by Peter Twitchell

Who doesn’t want to live forever? I think that we all do, to a certain extent. I believe I’m starting to accept the fact that death is an integral part of life here on Earth. When the time comes, we will all move on to the next phase of our lives – “The Spirit World”.

God’s words in the bible ring out, “I go to prepare a place for you.” He talks about mansions he has gone to prepare for us. Now that has got to be better than this 12 x 16 foot bedroom I sleep in, and cluttered with my worldly possessions.

I went through a period in my life where I lived dangerously, just maybe, believing I was going to live forever.

We all feel badly when we lose a loved one. I sure did when my dad died when I was fifteen. It felt like dad had a hollow body, he wasn’t there. His spirit returned back to where he came from. That was August 21, 1965. Twenty-four years and two days later mom passed August 23, 1989.

She prepared me for death, telling me, “Don’t cry, when I die, I’ll be in a good place.” I shared this at the Bethel Moravian Church congregation and I’ll share it with you now.

After Mom’s funeral, I went to her house. It was a quiet afternoon and I walked into the living room, pardon the pun. As I stood there remembering Mom, I felt a hand on my right shoulder, then it gently squeezed me. I wasn’t frightened or startled! I just said out loud, “Quyana nayurluta.” Translated meaning, “Thank you for watching over us.”

I peacefully felt a great joy coming over me.

I’ve always appreciated world renowned Martial Arts master Bruce Lee and what he said when he was here. What does it matter if you lived 1 day and made that count for something worthwhile or lived a hundred years wasting it.

I believe, we all make our mistakes, pick ourselves up, and grow to enjoy life more and be the person we were meant to be.