If You Were Dying...

No prayer, no need. I guess I have to confess that I really like the Klingon philosophy - "It's just the empty shell - do as you will with it."

That probably can be used by Plumjam to make some kind of statement about my living a myth, but that's OK. I have no expectations, no qualms, no urgencies, no regrets (except for whatever I may have left undone).
 
Every time I think of prayer to the Judeo-Christian God, I can't help but think of a scenario where God is tallying up the amount of fans for opposing football teams who are all praying for their team to win.
 
I certainly wouldn't pray, but imagining myself a theist, what would I pray for? Not for heaven - too late for that. If you haven't spent a life of virtue according to your faith, last minute pleas wouldn't work (yes I know that some catholics say that even the most evil can go to purgatory if they sincerely confess). Would you pray for the pain to ease? Morphine would be a better bet. I just can't imagine what a deity would make of a last minute prayer.
 
Well, Catholics urge offering the suffering up to Christ... whatever that means... it's "god's kisses" or that's what Mother Theresa told sufferers.

I want the morphine. The best stuff humans have come up with.
 
A couple of years ago I was misdiagnosed and waited for five days till the real problem was found. During the five days my wife and I talked for hours about my facing mortality. We went over plans for my funeral, what I wanted those around me to know about things I never shared, that sort of thing. Never once did praying even enter my mind. What a stupid waste of time it would have been. I was looking at the end of my life coming sooner than planned and needed every moment to put together important real things and get them in order.

I have a question for the OP. Do you really wish/hope/pray that you have a soul? If you have one are you aware of it? It seems to me that a soul is like a parasite that uses the body for transportation and fuel and when the body dies it buggars off to heaven without a tata!
 
Shadow said:
Seriously consider, if you only had a few seconds before death what you would think about?
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I spent my 31st birthday in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy. However, when I arrived at the hospital a few days before my symptoms weren't typical for appendicitis and the last thing that I was told before going in to surgery was that I had probably gotten to the hospital too late. Leaving instructions for my survivors on how to clean up my life was the only thought that occurred to me.

My 31st birthday was also the day of my "weirdest situation you ever met a woman" story.
 
I don't think so.

The closest to death I've been are near car crashes. The first one I was at the wheel, it was slushy (mixed snow and rain on the road; extremely slippery) and I totally lost control of the car. It didn't last long, but it seemed an eternity to me. I didn't even scream. I didn't even think. All the brain power was on the task of keeping the car on the road. I succeeded, even if the car was facing backwards when it finally stopped. Fotunately, the coming cars had seen it from afar.

The second time, I wasn't at the wheel, my mom was. She was screaming her head off. I was totally silent. In my head, big F**********K was playing. Never thought of praying. Just wished I was at the wheel.
 
articulett said:
I heard it makes good toilet paper in a pinch.

(Those things must be useful for something.)
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Bible paper is also great for roll-your-own cigarettes and firelighting.

I think I'd regret all the things I should have done but never did.
The closest I ever came to death (so far) was being missed by a
fraction of an inch by a 9mm SMG bullet that a mate had negligently
discharged. I don't recall thinking of anything other than "What the
<bleeping> <bleep> was THAT!?"
 
RecoveringYuppy said:
But did your mate start praying before his untimely death?
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I think "Jesus Christ" may have been included among his terrified,
incoherent gibberings. He wet his pants (literally) with fright when
he thought he'd shot me and was in serious trouble for negligently
discharging a live round. If it'd have been a burst he'd cracked off
I'd have almost certainly been fertilizer. In that case, I rather think
I'd have been more pissed off than pious in my last moments.
 
Shadow said:
If you were dying would you pray?
Why or Why not?

Seriously consider, if you only had a few seconds before death what you would think about?

I would hope to have a soul, think about people I love and to try my best to survive. Maybe tell a funny joke depending on if anyone is polish.
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My answer to this question is simple, because I've already been there and done that.

I've had close brushes with death on three specific occasions in my life, all of which took place very quickly with me within a second or two of my end. I obviously avoided meeting the end of my existence in all three cases - once by blind dumb chance and twice because of quick thinking and reflexes on my part.

In none of these three situations did I waste any time pondering a supposed afterlife or the salvation of my "soul" - I was more concerned about staying alive. Oh yeah, and I didn't tell any jokes either.
 
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If I only had a few seconds before I die, my final thoughts would probably either be "OH MY FRIKKING OW OW OW OW" or "Oh ****"

I think we'd find that many people's final thoughts go along these lines.
 
That's sort of like asking me "If you were caught in a lightning storm, would you pray to mighty Zeus to spare your life?"

No, it would never even cross my mind.
 
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