Death - The Usher

I watched as the man writhed in agony. He called out for help, "Help me! Helllp meee!" When asked how I could help him, he yelled out, "Don't help me...No, doon't help me!" As I turned to leave, the man gritting his teeth, moaning, and groaning, called out in desperation, "Don't leave me! Don't leave meee!"
I took his hand. It was cold, bruised, and had a slightly mottled look not unlike his legs which were less bruised and more mottled. Death was near. Quietly I prayed as I firmly held his hand. He looked at me, pupils pinpoint, desperate. His hand grip matched mine, welcoming the security of knowing that he was not alone. He continued to writhe in pain, and though instinctively he wanted to pull his hand away to soothe the area that was in pain, he would not let go, his eyes always watching me, searching for something. "I am ready. You can take me now," he stated.  He groaned in anguish as if he was being tortured. "Take me now!" he yelled.

What people see in the spiritual in the final moments of life seem to be similar, their response to what they see is very individual.

When death is before you and you are at the brink, I can promise you, you will not be thinking of life, family, friends, money, regrets, hopes...you are wholly present in that moment facing something you have never known before. You have heard about it, seen others experience it, maybe come close to it in the past, but at the brink, it comes down to you and Death. For some it is a terrifying moment, some welcome Death as a friend, for some it is a swift surprise.

We tend to visualize Death as a negative concept. I am not talking about the afterlife, but the moment of death. I tend to picture Death in the form of the Grimm Reaper, but my experience with Death is not this otherworldly creature that, without conscience, steals lives; rather, Death is like an usher holding the "door" from this existence to the next. He holds the "door" at just the right time, for just the right amount of time. What a person sees, whether is be the "usher" or beyond this "usher", may be what terrifies or peacefully soothes as the journey of life transforms.

Death comes for all of us, but until that moment, please, don't live in negativity and despair: Live Life.