Why Plan For the End of Life When You Don't Die?

One of the benefits of rising at 4:40am everyday is getting KQED on the drive to the gym.

Michael Krasny is a great host and a better interviewer. And he's  an Ohio University graduate I might add.

This morning the topic was end of life care. You can listen here

Well this doctor, a very patient and intelligent sounding fellow, used this word I love: finite

I love that word.

He said our lives are finite.

Now most of you don't believe that shit for a second. Much less two seconds. No most of you believe that we are eternal. You equivocate on death. Yes, you. If you ask me to define death I do it thusly: the cessation of (individual) life.

I get it. Death reeks of finality. Stinks to high heaven (pun intended).

Now you'll come at me with some talk of "oh earthly death and earthly material matters and oh well all of that is fine to plan for: get a will in order, yadi yada."

But how in the name of cognitive dissonance can you plan for your death when you don't die?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 

You might know it as John 3:16

I sense no cessation in "everlasting life."

My wife tells me that cognitive dissonance is easy to get around. You just add new beliefs. Or one can rationalize beliefs.

But my thesis is that hypocrisy is unhealthy. Equivocating in letter, spirit, action is unhealthy. Hypocrisy is insidious, it festers. I believe there are collective hypocrisy effects as well. The collective belief that we are eternal has physical, material implications.

To be continued