Having read Mr. Jiang An's article about life and death, I came up with the following thoughts in line with his last few words of enlightenment.

It was said that Confucius once asked an old man of 100-years-old: "Please tell me what life is, and, if possible, then tell me what death is." The old man replied: "Sir, you are supposed to figure out what death is before you can understand life. Death is the sand beach, and life is to build up a house on the beach with sand."

Death serves as the basis of our life. We live up to 70 years of age, or 80 or 90, but death is always the denominator of positive infinity. The result remains close to zero with very little difference.

Death is also the outcome of life. In our lifetime we struggle to build up wealth, fame and social status, none of which is not paid for by giving up our living moments and leading to death. As soon as we finish building, death arrives.

Facing such a reality of human destiny, some people adopt a nihilist attitude. They indulge themselves in transient pleasure. They are carefree or apathetic. Although there are people who try to fight death with courage, yet none of them ever come back alive.

Zhuangzi once told a story:

There were four people A, B, C and D. They all realized that life and death were but the same thing. So they became friends.

One day, B was possessed by an evil spirit. He couldn't straighten his body. His cheeks were so ill-formed that they could touch his belly. His shoulders reached over his head and his back was covered with painful sores. B saw the reflection of his body in water and said, "How wonderful our creator is! He wants to turn me into a cripple." B never complained.

Having said this, D peacefully fell asleep. After a while, D peacefully awakened.

If we are conscious about the Creator, and if we fear Him and are submissive to Him, then we are only being consistent with our own insignificance, passiveness, transience and loneliness, which are but natural laws. If we do this, then we can transcend these natural laws and step into a greater law where we can communicate with the Creator. In this greater law, life becomes meaningful. Death also becomes meaningful. Furthermore, the significance of death is quantitatively equivalent to the significance of life because both life and death are the meaningful work of the Creator and they both exist in the life of the Creator.

If we are not conscious about the Creator, and if we do not fear Him and are not submissive to Him, then we are not being consistent with our own insignificance, passiveness, transience and loneliness. We are not able to transcend these natural laws, nor are we able to communicate with the Creator in the greater law. If this is the case, then our life becomes meaningless, and our death also becomes meaningless. Both life and death lose their meaning because we fail to realize that both are the meaningful work of the Creator, nor do we realize that we are originally designed to live in the life of the Creator.

When we disappear, the Creator that grants life to us remains. When all living beings perish, the Creator that grants life to all living beings remains. In eternity, the Creator can do whatever He likes. He can even create new and perhaps better living beings if He so chooses.

This human consciousness of the Creator can be thought of as a living entity's consciousness of the self, within which the transient life of human beings and the life of the Divine become one. It is within this oneness will you discover that death is but a part of life's existence, much like the sand beach being a part of the earth. As a result, you will not strive to look for the essence of life from death's sand beach or to try to rebuild a ruined house there, but rather you will be promenading on the death's sand beach with ease.

Our life is not just a thing the Creator makes like clay in the hand of the Creator. We must further understand that our life itself is the Creator's grace to us and it is the embodiment of the Creator's love. The fact that life is grace and love constantly reminds me that thanksgiving is our biggest responsibility and the most significant part of our life.

Just as life is the grace of God, death is also the grace of God. Between life's emergence and life's termination is a journey God gives to us. We come; we go. No matter where we are, as long as we are alive, and as long as our life is still life, we must give to God our thanksgiving, our praise and our worship. We must give thanks to God for the air that caresses us and for the sunshine that embraces us. We must give thanks for the crops we harvest and for the cattle we care. We must give thanks for our creativity and appreciation. And we must give thanks for the environment that allows us to be creative and appreciative. Most importantly, we must give thanks for our very existence and for our self-consciousness.

A poet once wrote:

Those who do not give thanks to God think of life as their own possession so that they separate their life from life's very self. Transience departs from eternity and becomes a lonely moment. Life like this struggles in vain to discover its meaning and it only discovers absurdity (e.g. Sartre). Life like this struggles in vain to catch its steps and it only falls into a pit (e.g. Nietzsche). This kind of life is full of anxiety because nothing seems to be right except for life itself. Life like this fears death because it does not know where it comes from and where it is heading toward.

Those who submit to God and give thanks to God understand life's true self (its origin and its destination). They are free of anxiety of life and are free of fear of death. They are like those who promenade on the sand beach and appreciate the blue and boundless sea. From time to time, they utter praises from the bottom of their heart.

"Oh godly man, how I long for ending my own life! I only hope God will let me die soon because I am not able to find hope on earth."

The old man replied: "Martin, you have no right to say such a thing. We are not supposed to comment on God's acts. You feel hopeless because your purpose of life is but for your own happiness."

Martin asked: "What else do we live for?"

The old man replied: "We live for God. It is God who grants you life and so you must live for Him. If you are able to live for God, you will not be as miserable as you are and you will be contented with everything."

Martin was silent for a while and then asked: "But how are we going to live for God?"

The old man replied: "Jesus Christ has already taught us how to live for God. If you are literate, you should buy a book of the Gospels. Then you will understand what kind of life God likes us to live. It's all written in that book."

This story reveals at least three levels of significance. 1) He who devotes himself to God has conquered death; 2) He who devotes himself to God has selfless love; and 3) He who devotes himself to God lives in God.

Now the first. To be devoted to God is to give life to God as a living sacrifice. As a result, life no longer belongs to oneself but to God. And because life belongs to God, one can live outside of one's body. No more death, no more encounter of death, no more fear of death, and no more suicide. One can then win the battle against death and live in eternity. Martin did not wish to kill himself any more.

If life belongs solely to oneself and not to God, or if life is given to some worldly matter, which by definition has limitations, separation, conflicts, emergence and termination, then the moment one is born, he has stepped into the journey toward death. One is doomed to die, to fear death, or even to seek death. One will not be able to win the battle against death but will live in death. Martin had wished to kill himself.

"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Mt. 16:25) These words of Jesus have true and profound significance.

Now the second level of significance. What is devotion? What is living sacrifice? And what is to live for God? Is this but empty talk? Absolutely not. To devote to God is to devote to love, for "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:16) and "if I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Cor. 13:1) Jesus says that love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10). We must love God who creates us, cares us and loves us before we love Him. We must also love our neighbors who God loves.

God loves us and we love God. That we so love each other is the substance of love. That God loves us is the major premise because we would not have existed if God had not loved us. That we love God is the minor premise because we will not be able to love each other if we do not love God. That we love each other is the conclusion, or the fruit, or the testimony that we love God because "anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." (1 Jn. 4:20)

Therefore, to devote to God is to devote to the love of God, and to devote to the love of God is to love anyone unconditionally. Within this love and only within this love, can we find that life and death become one and we and God become one.

Now the third level of significance. God is invisible and formless, then how does God reveal Himself to us and how does He communicate with us? God does so through love. Jesus, the flesh transfiguration of the Way, is also the transfiguration of love. He demonstrates to the world that God is love. His love is like sunshine. He cures sick people; he forgives sinners; he blesses opponents and he prays for slaughterers. He never hates anyone. On the cross, Jesus gives His body to sinners and His spirit to God. Thus He has built a bridge between God and sinners, a bridge of pure love. Whoever steps on to the bridge has stepped into God. He has stepped into love and will experience the presence of God in love.

Those who devote themselves to God with unconditional love are not only those who promenade on the sand beach and appreciate the beautiful scenes of the sea, but those who dive into the sea of life and swim to freedom.

Submission means to live in God's love; thanksgiving is to repay God's love; devotion is to live God's love.

With submission, thanksgiving and devotion, we can live in God's love and transcend death till we live up to the highest value of ourselves. Our spiritually highest value, which belongs to eternity, has been exemplified by Jesus, and that is to live according to the good design with which God makes us. Such a life does not have death.

"If you are literate, you should buy a book of the Gospels. Then you will understand what kind of life God likes us to live. It's all written in that book."

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