Most people, it seems, are afraid of dying. Those who have been conditioned by religious dogma are especially fearful about the end of their lives. You often hear them say that their lives have been “saved;” but whether by Jesus or by medical “miracles,” the truth is that no life can be saved. Eckhart Tolle tells us that we do not have a life to lose. We are Life itself. Unlike these people, I have never feared death. I patiently look forward to it, for I feel that at that time, I will at last be allowed to go home.
People who live in cities, completely out of touch with Nature, fear being alone in the wilderness. They fear wild animals when there is usually nothing to fear. Most wild species avoid humans. We are, after all, the most dangerous predator on the planet. I; however, feel safest in a forest, surrounded by trees and songbirds. In a city, in a crowd, among buildings, traffic, and noise, I am terrified.
I have observed that there are many people who cannot bear to be alone and cannot bear the silence. Unlike them, I crave the quiet and I need the sacred silence like a fish needs water.
My hermetic life has allowed me to observe from a distance. My heart breaks every day from the pain my fellow humans have inflicted on other species. I weep for our planet and for the desecration that has been done to her. I am afraid, not of dying, but of living in a world that is consumed by selfishness and greed. This changed world of artificial intelligence and non-binary individuals and people who are clueless about the natural world, frightens me. I watch our country being torn apart by hate, promoted by Donald Trump, and those whose minds he has managed to manipulate. He is a very sick man. I see the possibility of a civil war, the crumbling of peace in a world that has lost its mind. I am afraid of living in a world filled with so many uncertainties.
