C O F F I N

I'm scared of dying. I admit that.

Probably because of this stupid dream I've had since I was a kid where I wake up inside this dark, constricting coffin that's being lowered into a grave. MY grave.

I know it's foolish to be so worked up over such dreams. I've been told that there are far worst nightmares I should be worried about. Visiting in-laws are one, according to a married friend.

And besides, dead people these days are embalmed, which also means their innards are gutted out. So the probability of one person suddenly waking up during his internment is about close to nothing.

But what if I wake up just when the embalmer is pulling out my liver?

Death is probably the best selling point of religion i.e. any religion. It's because we want assurances that something of us, somehow, survives death and decay.

THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT BEHIND ALL THOSE RITUALS AND PRAYERS, RIGHT? O_o

We are scared s@#t of death because no one from our recent memories, or dead people whom we actually knew, has actually risen from the grave - complete with maggots, fungi, and slimy, decayed eyeballs hanging by a thread - to assure us that heaven, or paradise is actually waiting for us on the other side.

NOTE: with the exemption of JESUS CHRIST, but that was like 2,000 years ago. And we need faith to believe in that.

Every year, we hold this celebration in honor of the dead. And to make the subject seem less dreadful, or less morbid, we've managed to transform it into a kid friendly festivity.

In the United States, they give away sweets to kids dressed in ghoulish costumes. They ring up your door and cry, "trick or treats!"

Then, come bed time, they scare these kids green with delightful halloween stories like this witch holding Hansel and Gretel hostage in some candy store, intending to have them for dinner.

We know it's all for fun. But it scares us anyway. The dying and being cooked, and being eaten part.

Because we are scared of dying, because all assurances about the supposed great beyond is all based on... FAITH. The substance and proof of things not seen.

Is there a great beyond... beyond the grave?

If there's none, then some of us have wasted our lives being the stuck up, uptight, anal retentive religious folks that we are. We should all have just lived life to the very edge, in full hedonistic abandon. After all, the best things in life are the wicked and forbidden kinds.

But what if.. there is a great beyond?

And hell is true.

Then some of us are truly in for a big roast. We really ought to think seriously about preparing for it.

Believe me. The fear of death will always make religion relevant. And no matter what science says, there will always be those who will fear death.

As for me. All I'm scared of is being buried alive. It's a bummer to die slowly in a dark, constricted coffin where you slowly run out of air.

BASAHIN ANG SULATING ITO SA WIKANG INGLES