This is what will kill you by Adetunji Orisalade

*MOST HUMANS DO NOT KNOW THIS, DEATH DOESN’T KILL!* Death ke? why? That was the comment of a close friend of mine about two weeks ago when he saw me Online at about 2:00 am in the early morning and very busy. He is not within our time Zone, but is a Nigerian by birth. Thus he sent a chat : "Papa Teejay, why are you still awake at this period? I retorted that I was busy writing! Why are you still very much involved in the Chambers work with all those lawyers available? I told him point blank that it was not the Law Chambers work, but I was writing an Article on a very interesting Topic! He inquired the subject-matter and I said *Death* . He was very alarmed and said *Death* ke! why Death? Teejay you wan die? I said No! I am not ready at all and I still have many glowing and blessed years ahead to serve in the Lord’s Vineyard and also to service mankind. He jokingly said, Ok oo! Man of God! Servant of the people! But be careful o on that topic! Both of us laughed it off. It was a conversation that spanned almost 45 Minutes! After that discussion, I couldn’t continue with my writing as I just laid on the bed and started relieving the discussion with my friend. At that moment, lots of thoughts were running to and fro on my head and that singular poser *Death ke?* became a recurrent. I was asking myself on and on again why the fearful resentment of death by all? Both the Rich and Poor, the Low and Mighty, the Cardinals, Archbishops, Chief Imams, Traditional Religious Leaders, General Overseers, Buddists etc even Atheists are all United in this apprehension: No one wants to die, inspite of the promise and thought of better things in the world beyond. My mind went straight to the issue of writing a Will which is equally very scary to lots of people. It was that simple friendly discussion that even emboldened me to really concentrate on the Topic and Subject-matter which radiates around death. The very mention of *Death* send shivers down the spines of many and in most circles, it is a dreadful Topic for discussion. People are loathe to even mention it and lots struggle not to even remember it at all. Whereas this is a phenomenon that is ever constant, steady and inevitable. It is a recurring decimal in our lives as human beings and it is as old as life itself. It started with life and ends life itself. Life and death seems to be a sicesmese twins. No wonder, *DEAN KOONTZ in the HUSBAND* said: “A man begins dying at the moment of his birth. Most people live in the denial of Death’s patient Courtship until later in life and deep in sickness as they become and are of him sitting bedside.” *GAUTAMA BUDDHA* also stated several years ago that “We begin to die from the moment we are born, for birth is the cause of death. The nature of decay is inherent in youth, the nature of sickness is inherent in health, in the midst of life, we are verily in death.” Both *DEAN KOONTZ and GAUTAMA BUDDHA* are agreed that for every living person, his or her respective package of Death had be attached ab initio. It is like the bones hung on a dog’s neck. It becomes affixed for life and cannot be removed just like that or wished away. *WHAT THEN IS THIS* *ENIGMATIC PHENOMENON* *CALLED DEATH?* Death, according to Merriam-Webster is “the irreversible cessation of all biological functions, especially as indicated in the permanent stoppage of the heart, respiration and brain activity. In order words, death is the end of life. When a person dies, he or she becomes oblivious of the happenings around in the physical world of which he or she was previously active, but had now become a non-participant. The dead person can no longer eat, drink, dance, hear music or call out to any person living. The world activities of life which involves every other living beings become things beyond his reach or calculation. Death would come via old age, sickness or could be occasioned by accident which include violence. In all the of these, death remains death as the person involved is robbed of everything that makes him a living being. The eventual process of death causes decomposition of the dead body which is divided into four (4) stages to wit: "Autolysis which commences between 24- 72 hours after death and it involves the commencement of the decomposition of the internal organs. Bloat is the second stage and this commences between the 3rd to 5th day after death and it involves the bloating of the body and blood containing foam start to leak from the Mouth and Nose . Active Decay is the third stage and it occurs between the 5th – 10th day in which case the body turns from Green to Red as the blood itself decomposes and the organs in the abdomen accumulates gas. Skeletinization takes place after several weeks of the occurrence of death and it involves the falling of the Nails and Teeth and thereafter after a month or thereafter, the body of the dead person starts to liquidify. (See *Aftermath* ……… on the stages of Human Decomposition). Consequent upon the above, that human bubbling with life and energy, with feelings and future plans and ambitions become reduced to nothing barely a month after Cessation of everything that makes him or her a living being. What a waste! What a tragedy! What an Irony. Everything cherished and gathered by that erstwhile living being becomes atmost a Bona vacantia, except where there had been a legal process of transfer of ownership whist alive (Gift Inter vivos) or via a Testamentary disposition. Even where the two modes of transfer of ownership in properties are followed by the erstwhile Owner, there had been occasions where the targeted beneficiaries never get to own those properties on account of some intervening circumstances either through litigation or the activity of an interloper wishing to thwart the intention of the deceased Owner. In all these, the vital point is that the deceased person, upon death, ceases to have control over anything and the whole labour whilst alive becomes more or less worthless. Such is the great negative effect of death on human existence and activities. Apart from the medical explanation of death Supra, the philosophers too have their own idea of death. *Plato* and *Socrates* define Death as “the ultimate separation of the soul and body. They regard the body as a prison for the soul and view death as the means of freedom for the soul”. According to *Aristotle* too “the dead are more blessed and happier than the living, and to die is to return to one’s real home”. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, human death is referred to as “the irreversible loss of personhood” in which case upon death, a person ceases to be a person and would also be referred to in the past tenses - the person upon death became motionless and lifeless as the heart has stopped beating, the blood has stopped to flow and oxygen is cut off from all the body’s organs, including the brain. As stated in some Works of the University of Sheffield, "Death is not mere absence of life and being dead is not the same as being non-living. life and death are like green and red, you can’t be both but you can be neither. We also know that death is the end of life and this makes it a negative concept." In the Bible, death is referred to as the giving up of the spirit (See Matt. 27: 50, Lk, 23:46, Jn 19: 30 or of the Soul Jn. 10:11, 15, 17, 13:37 Without the spirit, the body is dead Jas 2:26 and if a dead person comes back to life, his spirit returns. *Why Death then?* There’s no doubt that life is a process itself which commenced from birth. That little infant soon grows up to be a Toddler, and a Big baby, thence developing to a Teenager and later to an Adult. At every stage of development, life is seen as sweet and if not so sweet, there is the intermittent hope of better days ahead. Consequently, the human is full of hopes, aspirations and ambitions for the days and years ahead. The human mind is always preoccupied with all these visions and missions of life, that he fails to ponder over the fact that whatever has a beginning, must necessarily have an end. The process of life automatically involves death as death itself is a significant and inevitable part of life. Some even regard it as a natural and essential part of a life process. It must necessarily happen and occur at a period in life and no one can do anything about it. Ipso facto, death is not something out of the blues or a man-made creation. It has also being in existence alongside life, being part of the life process. The best bet for any human is to live his or her life to the fullest while same lasts as death must occur in the chain process. And as *KAISEI TAGAMU* counseled : “Do not seek death and do not fear it either, there cannot be life without death, it is inescapable. The salient question now is: how do you overcome the fear of death? However, before really delving into the poser raised above, we need to be guided by the saying of *MARCUS AURELIUS* that “it is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” The fear of death is an issue that cannot be wished away. Both the accomplished person and the struggling person nurses such fear. The former concentrate on the question of what happens to all his gathered earthly possessions and the latter thinking on whether death would not truncate his or her nurtured dreams and ambitions. The fear of death is very natural, normal and well-placed within the human calculation and the same must necessarily come into the mind periodically. Tell me or show me the man who would not be afraid upon the thought of an everlasting detachment from his family, possessions, friends and the good things of life. That thought naturally makes him very uncomfortable, sad and inconvenient. It would appear as if the whole world is coming down on him. But, alas there is nothing he can do to stop the phenomenon of death. Come it must come! And at the appointed time. It is a binding contract which we all have and the due debt of death must be paid by all. In order therefore to avoid the fear of death, one must start to accept it too as a concomitant process of life which lurks down in the darkest tunnel at the last phase of life. It must be taken as natural, fixed and most expected. A man then must begin to plan his life to await the occurrence of this phenomenon. The plans should include making peace with his family, friends, neighbours and Associates. He should purge himself of all hatred, animosity and bile thoughts towards his fellow human beings. If he is a person that is accomplished, he should settle his home by either granting his properties inter vivos to his intended beneficiaries or consult his Solicitor to prepare a Testamentary instrument on his behalf that would take care of his wishes when he is gone. To the unaccomplished and still struggling fellow, all he or she needs to do is to be at par with his or her God and concentrate on the realization of his or her dreams, without attempting to cut corners or get involved in fraudulent Affairs. *Martin Heidegger* , a unique Philosopher in his own days opined “the end of the world is death. The end that belongs to existence limits and defines the whole of existence. Death is just a fellow existence (Heidegger, 2014 P302) He goes on further when asked to discuss *Aristotle*, he further buttressed the quote above to still deeming death as part of existence, hear him “What was Aristotle’s life? Well the answer … a single sentence “he was born, he thought, he died and all the rest is pure anecdote.” On the issue of allaying the fear of death in our life, he said: “if I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life and only then will I be free to become myself.” *Martin Heidegger* further amplifies the fact of death as part of life process when he equates a man as multiple with the responsibility of ensuring continuity of life in which case, life does not stop at his exit, hear him again “Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one”. In this vein, the one man is saddled with the greater duty of procreating and planting other men that would continue in existence after him. The Bible seems to be in accord with him on this note. In Genesis 1:28 God says: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it….” (New King James Version). God confirms his covenant with man Leviticus 26: 9 and He says thus “For I will look on you favourably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirming my covenant with you. (New King James Version). In the Quoran, it is stated that God created for you Consorts in marriage from amongst yourselves and through your Consorts, He created children and grand children for you and provided you of his bounty. Even in the Traditional Religions, it is a potent belief that an average man came into existence purposely for the purpose of procreation to allow for the uninterrupted continuity of life of a world without an end. Life itself is akin to the usage in commercial transportation. A Bus from Ikeja Bus-Stop going to the Lagos Island, CMS Bus Stop to be precise, would accommodate lots of Passengers in between Ikeja and CMS Bus Stop through Ikorodu Road. As everyone gets to his or her destination, he or she alights from the Bus by alerting the conductor when the bus gets to its area of disembarkment e.g. Maryland, Anthony, Obanikoro, Palm Groove, Onipanu, Fadeyi, Jibowu, Yaba, Onyingbo, Apogbon etc. Such is life! What again do we do when we know that we cannot escape death and with the realisation that " we brought nothing and shall take nothing away"? The answer is purely to be calm, gentle and patient with life. There should be no hurry! Let things take their natural path! We shall all end up as stories to be read by generations following! However, we do have a Consolation in the words of *Kim Harrison:* "Endings are not always bad. Most times they’re just beginnings in disguise." We still have the hope of a renewed life in the World beyond. And apart from that, "No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away." - Terry Pratchett. In all, lets know for sure that death does not kill at all, because as *KAHLIL GIBRAN* said: "For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one." Rt. Hon Orisalade Adetunji Taiwo. Upara Orisa Ule Oluroye, Aofin Compound, Ilogbo-Ekiti Ekiti State.