AND IT MAKES ME WONDER: DO SOME PEOPLE SUBCONSCIOUSLY "KNOW" BEFOREHAND HOW THEY WILL DIE? AND IS THIS EVIDENCED BY CERTAIN LIFELONG PHOBIAS OR OBSESSIONS?
TAKE NATALIE WOOD'S UNTIMELY DEATH, FOR INSTANCE. I WAS PROBABLY IN MY TWENTIES WHEN I HEARD THE ACCOUNT OF HOW THIS GORGEOUS FILM STAR DROWNED AFTER LEAVING HER HUSBAND'S YATCH IN THE PITCH BLACK OF NIGHT TO BOARD A SMALL CRAFT ALONE. ADDED TO THIS TALE WAS THE FACT THAT MS WOOD HAD SUFFERED FROM A FEAR OF WATER AND HAD RECENTLY OVERCOME THIS
"UNREASONABLE" FEAR ONLY RECENTLY. (WAS SHE TRYING TO PROVE SOMETHING)?
WHY I REMEMBERED THIS STORY, I DON'T KNOW. THEN THERE WAS THE ARTICLE ABOUT A FORMER BEAUTY QUEEN WITH A PHOBIA OF HEIGHTS WHO FINALLY DECIDED --AFTER GAINING HER TIARA--TO TACKLE THAT "IRRATIONAL " ANXIETY BY GOING FOR A SKY DIVE. HOW IRONIC THAT ON HER FIRST FREE FALL, HER CHUTE FAILED TO OPEN AND SHE CRASHED TO HER UNTIMELY DEATH!
MORE RECENTLY, I READ ABOUT A LOCAL NEUROLOGIST WHO HAD DEVOTED HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER TO PATIENTS WITH ALS, SEARCHING FOR CLINICAL TRIALS AND ANY ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS. AFTER HE SUCCUMBED TO THIS SAME DISEASE
YEARS LATER, HIS WIDOW SOUNDED QUITE PUT OUT WITH GOD FOR REWARDING HIM SO CRUELY. COULD IT BE RATHER, THAT THE DOCTOR WAS ANXIOUS FOR A CURE BECAUSE SOMEWHERE INSIDE HE "KNEW" THAT HE TOO WOULD ONE DAY FALL VITIM TO ALS HIMSELF? WHICH REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER STORY ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO DIED OF BREAST CANCER AFTER TIRELESSLY WORKING AS A FUNDRAISER FOR THAT CAUSE--NO FAMILY HISTORY. WHAT WAS HER IMPETUS?
THERE IS A REMARKABLE POEM BY ROBERT FROST* FOUND IN THE FRONT OF CAROLYN MYSS' BOOK, "SACRED CONTRACTS." THE AUTHOR CHOSE THIS POEM TO ILLUSTRATE HER THEME THAT WE ALL MAKE PREBIRTH AGREEMENTS WITH GOD TO UNDERGO THE LIFE EXPERIENCES WE HAVE ON EARTH, OUR INDIVIDUAL SACRED CONTRACTS. THIS IDEA APPEALS TO ME FROM A CHRISTIAN STANDPOINT BECAUSE JESUS THE CHRIST AGREED WITH THE FATHER TO COME TO EARTH AS A SACRIFICE FOR HUMANITY. DO WE, TOO, FOLLOW HIM INTO THIS "VALLEY OF TEARS" TO FACE AN OBSCURED CROSS?
IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, WHAT GOOD COMES OF SUCH SPECULATION? WE'LL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW FOR CERTAIN IF THIS THEORY IS TRUE WHILE WE LIVE.
BUT IT IS A WAY TO RECKON WITH OUR MYSTERIOUS OBSESSIONS AND FEARS. MAYBE SOME OF THESE ARE NOT SO MENTALLY QUESTIONABLE . MOST OF US WILL NOT MEET WITH INCREDIBLY AWFUL, UNTIMELY, OR IRONIC DEATHS. AND WE SHOULD ADDRESS OUR FEARS AS RATIONAL ADULTS--FOR THE MOST PART. STILL, THESE STORIES KEEP COMING TO MY ATTENTION TO JAR THIS SENSE OF COSMIC JUSTICE. IF WE GET TO DECIDE (AND AGREE TO) OUR FATES,
WE ARE THEN RESPONSIBLE PARTIES WITH NO ONE TO BLAME. AND THAT IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF MORALITY AS WELL AS MENTAL HEALTH.
*THE TRIAL BY EXPERIENCE
