To Die Or Not To Die? Poem by Deborah Downes

At the very moment of being
the doom of death is born
Yet we strive to deny this birthright
and it incenses us to survive
The babe’s urgent cry to be fed
A drowning man’s desperate gasps for air
This thirst for life must be quenched
so we shelter ourselves from all threats
both real and perceived
But such existence comes with a cost
that precludes valid reasons to live on....
to give and receive love
to experience the Lord’s joy
and His peace that follows both.

Society’s messages are mixed....
Abort the unborn who have yet to live
but revitalize the agonized shells who have lived too long
Execute the guilty for murdering the innocent
and sue the malpracticing physician
who did not uphold his oath to preserve life
Clone or inseminate the celebrated
but sterilize the scorned.

Which is the better decision
to die or not to die?
Should it even be man’s choice
or our Godly destiny?
And if we choose the righteous path
will we not be reborn into eternity?