Thursdays With Death

TWD - Chapter 3 - Flatlining

It’s three o’clock in the morning, and I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about what Death had said when we last met. Two things stick out in my mind: first, when Death said, “We think you’re ready for the next step,” who is we? Second, how could I see a glimmer of light in the depth of the darkness that is Death? To answer these questions, I’d have to do something I had never done before – contact Death.

I’d been having conversations with Death for several months now. Normally, Death and I met on Thursdays. However, I needed to talk to Death now. I couldn’t wait. How does one go about getting in touch with Death at this time of night?

Visions of the movie Flatliners ran through my mind as I pondered how I might go about contacting Death. Maybe like the characters in the movie, I would need to get as physically close to death as possible in order to make contact. As I tried remembering how the characters went about doing that, I heard a noise behind me.

Turning around, I looked right into the “face” of Death, who was hanging upside down from a rafter, swinging back and forth like the pendulum of a clock.

“You rang?” Death asked.

“Actually, I was just thinking about how to contact you,” I replied.

“I know,” Death said. “That’s why I’m here.”

I looked puzzled at the shape in front of me. “But I didn’t call you or even begin to look for you,” I said.

“You didn’t need to,” Death replied. “The intent is all that is necessary. Intent is all that is ever necessary.”

I looked at Death, trying to absorb what I had just heard, but Death had other plans.
“So, you have some questions for me?” Death inquired.

“I want to know . . .” Before I could finish, Death interrupted.

“You want to first know what I meant when I said ‘We’ last week.”

“Yes,” I said.

“What do you think I meant?” Death asked.

An exasperated look came to my face as I looked at Death.

“How the heck would I know!” I said with exasperation. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you!”

“Well,” Death continued calmly, “If you had to guess, what would your answer be?”
I thought for a minute. As I thought, Death hopped down from the rafter and settled in at my desk. Reaching down, Death started my computer and grabbed my mouse.

“Well, maybe you were referring to the royal we, like the Queen in England,” I offered.
“Nope,” Death said.

I thought some more, and watched as Death pulled up Google on my computer screen.
“Could the “we” mean you and God?” I asked.

Death stopped using the mouse and looked around at me. I noticed that Death had pulled up a porn site on my computer.

Death’s “face” looked toward me for a couple of seconds, and then said, “Tell me more.”
Obviously, I was on to something, but I had no idea what.

“Well, maybe you and God somehow work together,” I stammered. “Maybe both of you are necessary for the process of life to work.”

Death stared at me, and I saw the glimmer of light again. This time, it was much brighter than before.

“Very good, grasshopper,” Death said in one of the worst Kwai Chang Caine impressions I had ever heard. Caine was the main character in the television series Kung Fu, played by David Carradine - and Death didn’t come close to sounding like him. “You are close. Let me continue.”

Death stood up and began to pace. I stared at the naked picture on my computer until I felt a slap across the back of my head.

“Pay attention,” Death said. “This is important.”

I stopped looking at the bare breasts and turned my gaze toward Death, who continued to pace.

“God is life,” Death said. “And God is death. Not that God is like me. I’m just a messenger. I do pick ups and deliveries – the ultimate Fed Ex dude. God is death as in awakening from a dream. When you die, you don’t die. Your physical body doesn’t die either. Your body changes properties, that is all. In addition, you move to another state of consciousness – another dream if you will.

“Your daily life is one state of consciousness. Your ego is another. Death is still another. God is death because God is everything. And I said ‘we’ because there are those who exist in another state of consciousness that work together to help anyone who wants to return to the fold.”

Death stopped pacing and looked directly at me. The glimmer was now a burning ember, casting light and shadow throughout Death’s “face”. It was weird.

“What time is it?” Death asked.

I looked at my watch.

“It’s 5:30,” I said.

“I gotta go,” Death announced, and headed for the door.

“But wait,” I said. “I still have another question.”

Death stopped and turned toward me.

“I know you do,” Death said. “But I told the escort service girl to meet me at 5:45 am sharp, and I don’t want to be late. That would be rude.”

Death turned, opened the door, and headed out into the darkness of early morning.
I stood there staring at the door, a naked girl grinning at me from my computer screen. I did get one question answered. Death isn't anything like what we learn. It’s not the end. It’s not final. It’s just a change, like moving from one country to another. Everything in the new country is similar, but different. It takes a while, but everyone adjusts their new surroundings and continues on living. Even more importantly, Death and God are on the same team. They’re on the same team because ultimately, God is everything - even death.