Peace in last moments of life

Roses for Nando and for no suffering but just peace for all about to depart

A little while ago a friend on twitter, Diane Segura, tweeted about a link to a heart breaking story. A lady from Oklahoma, USA (see) recently caught a serious bacterial infection. She became very sick at home and her legs and arms were becoming septic. Her husband moved her to a hospital where she is in very critical condition. Major parts of both her arms and legs were removed by the doctors to save her life. Her husband visits her in hospital and shows her videos of the two sons and tries to console her but is unable to stay with her at hospital. At the time of this writing, her condition appears to be very critical.

I had tweeted back that it is at times like this, more than any other, that I am reminded how badly humans need God despite all their science. Billions upon billions of bacteria and viruses are all around us all the time. Just one tiny one that one cannot even see is sufficient to destroy our lives but does not most of the times because of the grace of the Almighty. While at times human intervention saves us from some, it is only the Lord who can in every case. It seems just one little virus is sufficient to bring about an end of all the cells that make up our physical structure by cancer or some other ailment, slowly and painfully at times and rapidly at others. Despite all their science, all their pride, humans shall never be able to create from scratch even a single cell from amongst the countless in a human body, only the power to destroy them, but the Power that created them has both the power to save or destroy them with utmost of ease.

Modern medicine has the ability to prolong life but not necessarily its quality and in some cases the prolonging is in to the worst imaginable hell in the universe. In older times, or even now in less developed parts of the world, this lady would have perhaps died by now and left for another world or another life if one believed in reincarnation, or who knows may even have recovered spontaneously as indeed I have a few times through my life because in moments of gravest sickness all I did was pray and used some simple home and herbal remedies. I do not mean to suggest to others to take the same course, that would be risky, but definitely advise calling on the Lord in moments of need in the very least if not at all times. For me though my method has not entailed any risk because of what is stated next.

My own prayer in life for myself and loved ones has been to the Lord, since many years now, not necessarily for prolonging of life, but to make the last moments quick and as peaceful as possible, whenever He deems fit to recall this life seeing that a condition with the Lord for entering a physical body, for all life, is that death too must come some day. It is not how long one lives that is of any great importance but how well one lives while one is around that is important. The soul too must change bodies just as the body changes garments when they are old, dirty or no longer appropriate.

Such beliefs were strengthened when many years ago, my dear departed mother suddenly developed paralysis in legs before her demise. At first she underwent surgery of the spine because it seems a small abscess had developed in the spine. When the condition occurred I had prayed much for the Lord to save her. She survived and the sensation in her legs returned but not the movement and strength enough to ever walk again. She had led a very active and cheerful life and after a brief period of depression recovered much of the cheerfulness even on a wheelchair but it was not the same. A few years later she had a cardiac arrest and went into coma. She was moved to one of the finest hospitals. However this time in my prayers, I prayed to the Lord not to necessarily save her but do whatever is best in His wisdom. A bright light flashed in my mind and I learned later that she left the world around that time. Her name was Nand Rani Malhotra (Nando) and she was three months short of 75 at that time on April 25, 1999. While she lived, her skin odor was fragrant at all times, her sense of cleanliness and morality combined with compassion for all extraordinary, her complexion fair and clear as it was of the Queen of England when she was young; her hair thicker than most any woman has even into her old age, she loved roses, her favorite color pink in flowers and clothing, and that is why an image of that is selected for this note. May her soul rest in peace. Most definitely her time had come to bid goodbye to this life and move on to a new one.

Mystics in the Himalayas link all significant events to karma and say that it is indeed good Karma to leave the world for new lives peacefully. In another recent incident a village lad, whom I give the use of an independent room in my home in return for some chores and who has been described in some earlier posts, returned one day from his village not very far away, earlier in the year to announce that his dad had left the world. When I asked him how, he explained that he was fine till dinner but then felt tired and was sure that his last moments had arrived. He was around 57 years old but poor most of his life and aged sooner because of it. He asked his sons to gather all friends and relatives for the last goodbye. A few hours later he closed his eyes with his head resting in the lap of one his sons and left the world completely in peace. May the Lord grant such a peaceful last moment to all, whenever the time for it comes, and, much peace and strength at this moment to this lady who prompted this blog post, her husband, sons and all in her family who care.