The Fear of Death

[Craig Johnson]

Last night I had a dream where I was having difficulty clearing my throat and taking a breath. It woke me up and I found I could not breath very well and was short of breath. This made me wonder if I was going to die this way, basically strangling and unable to breath. It horrified me much more than the thought of death had for years. I know of the blackness that happens when you are strangled and pass out, and of course if it goes on, you die. Afterwards, I assume you recover and are on the other side. I read some of this talk by President Nelson and it gave me some comfort, I find, however, there is no comfort in death for those who are opposed to God or who live their lives in their sins, or those who denounce the oracles of God and endure in this way until their end.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... h?lang=eng

Please at least read the last section of this talk. It is good to be prepared for death, it can happen at any moment.

[drtanner]

"As a special witness of Jesus Christ, I testify that He lives! I also testify that the veil of death is very thin. I know by experiences too sacred to relate that those who have gone before are not strangers to leaders of this Church. To us and to you, our loved ones may be just as close as the next room—separated only by the doors of death."

I will never forget listening to Elder Monte J Brough in a small meeting with just a few people. He let us know that he had several visits from President Harold B Lee on the other side recently and basically reiterated what Elder Nelson said above. I can also testify that loved ones are close and experiences with them on the other side are real.

[gardener4life]

This is actually an interesting post. Nobody has really ever brought this up before in quite the same way.

I want to tell you if you put your repentance and humility constantly before God, you won't have to fear death. And I think that applies to feeling death to when its your time to go. I can say this because I believe that's what the spirit was telling me one time. I think because I've not been in good health that Heavenly Father was helping me see this so I wouldn't get distracted and lose my focus by some of my problems. I had a distinct impression one time that for people that are righteous they won't have to feel the 'sting' of death (I don't know if this applies to absolutely everyone. Maybe some people will want to be paying for something they did to make it right in repentance but I think many people they won't feel it.) Also I had a feeling one time at church seeing a bunch of old ladies with walkers, canes, and alzheimers with really wasted and sickly ugly even putrid bodies as if they were rotting that they would be resurrected to be quite the opposite as beautiful, pure, wholesome looking, and without blemish.

When I was thinking about this also I remembered that the 'sting of death' is also a scriptural phrase. I went and looked it up. There are several scriptures with this phrase not just this one;

Mosiah 16:8
Book of Mormon
But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

And sting of death can mean the pain and movement of when we die, when the body is giving up the ghost. (It's also interesting that scriptures on 'giving up the ghost' don't say the person suffered, when they are talking about repentant or righteous people.)

[David13]

Death is nothing to be feared.
We only encounter it once, assuming we are not cowards.
The coward experiences death a thousand times, as he imagines and fears it.

Elder Nelson, was it not that also had a real good talk on this topic, I think it was titled Men's Hearts Will Fail Them. He talked about how he was on an airplane, and some serious problem arose. He was calm, and was ready for death, if it were to come at that time.
A nearby woman was what they call "freaked" as she so dreaded the possibility of dying, at least at that time.
She wasn't prepared for it. He was.
They recovered (the engine, or whatever on the plane) and landed safely without incident.

But how sad, or more truthfully how foolish for the woman. A, not prepared, as it will come someday, and secondly, willing to die in a state of "freaked out".

If you realize the plane is going down hard, for sure, accept it, pray, think of the good times, and, although it will be a big splat, die peacefully.

Not squawking, screaming, and crying. That's no way to go. If you gotta go, go with dignity.

Amen.
dc

[brianj]

Do you have a fear of death or a fear of dying?

I got really sick in February. A couple of times I woke up in the middle of the night when I exhaled, when I began to inhale some mucus moved into a position to block my breathing, and I woke up almost completely unable to inhale. Fear of death never entered my mind, but fear of being unable to breathe until I died most certainly did.

I knew someone who nearly drowned, losing consciousness underwater. He described having been afraid of dying before this, but feeling such a tremendous feeling of peace that he no longer feared dying. BASE jumpers experience the same feeling of encompassing peace so frequently that in the BASE community it's referred to as "the moment." Death isn't to be feared, but dying sure can be.

[BeNotDeceived]

Stage 4 dreams is something I learned about in psyche 101 many years ago. Jung or whoever came up with the theory thought these occurred when your body was near death, as a way of waking you up. A heavy cat sitting on your chest was considered a typical recounting of the experience.

Googling just now: https://www.sleepassociation.org/sleep- ... t-terrors/ was the closest stuff I could find in the current record. Try not to become so physically exhausted and consider doing a sleep study.

[marc]

I'm not afraid of death. I may not enjoy how I die, but on that day, I will need only repent of my sins of that day. I pray daily and love daily and seek to be reconciled daily with my fellow man and the Lord. I go to bed each night with peace in my heart. The day I die will be a good day.

[Craig Johnson]

Do you have a fear of death or a fear of dying?

I got really sick in February. A couple of times I woke up in the middle of the night when I exhaled, when I began to inhale some mucus moved into a position to block my breathing, and I woke up almost completely unable to inhale. Fear of death never entered my mind, but fear of being unable to breathe until I died most certainly did.

I knew someone who nearly drowned, losing consciousness underwater. He described having been afraid of dying before this, but feeling such a tremendous feeling of peace that he no longer feared dying. BASE jumpers experience the same feeling of encompassing peace so frequently that in the BASE community it's referred to as "the moment." Death isn't to be feared, but dying sure can be.

I guess I am afraid of the dying part, just to be honest. I did not think so because I have faced it so many times (for real) in the past and somehow did not die. When this happened, night before last, I woke and all I could think about was the blackness of the times when I had been choked out (because I was having a hard time breathing, I suppose), involuntarily, by my older brother and voluntarily in some training scenarios. It really got under my skin and I lay there pretty freaked out for several minutes. All I could think was, what if the blackness never ends? Yeah, it freaked me out, so I guess I am a chicken.
Being tortured to death has always been something that I hoped to avoid, but the blackness never ending, it just never occurred to me before.

[Juliet]

I think the blackness is the lack of atmosphere in your spirit body. You travel in your spirit according to your unconscious desires. Anything you don't want, you pass through. You won't see it. There must be an atmosphere in order to perceive anything, and that is created from within. From there, you can travel to actual places, and go back to Heavenly Father through the veil.

While traveling, it can feel like falling through darkness. It is your mind making up where it wants to go. And it is directed by your unconscious desires. That's why the more we overcome fear and base desires in this life, the better.

I have had some astral experiences that were brutal, including torture. Luckily I could wake up and get out of it.

If you do find yourself in a bad place, do not believe the lie you will be told that there is no way out. If you choose faith in Jesus Christ, there is always a way out.

[Craig Johnson]

I think the blackness is the lack of atmosphere in your spirit body. You travel in your spirit according to your unconscious desires. Anything you don't want, you pass through. You won't see it. There must be an atmosphere in order to perceive anything, and that is created from within. From there, you can travel to actual places, and go back to Heavenly Father through the veil.

While traveling, it can feel like falling through darkness. It is your mind making up where it wants to go. And it is directed by your unconscious desires. That's why the more we overcome fear and base desires in this life, the better.

I have had some astral experiences that were brutal, including torture. Luckily I could wake up and get out of it.

If you do find yourself in a bad place, do not believe the lie you will be told that there is no way out. If you choose faith in Jesus Christ, there is always a way out.

Well, when I go I want to go quickly, that is my one wish.