兩種面對死亡的方法

 
你可以學基督徒那樣，用自欺、懦弱於是選擇容易的方法去“面對死亡”，或者學他們，Carl Sagan 夫婦，用誠實、勇敢態度，就算方法是困難的，也用那方法面對死亡？

When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife.  They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again.  Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions.  The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again.  I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl, but the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is.  We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting.  Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural.  We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous and so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years.  That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful.

The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived.  That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday.  I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again, but I saw him — we saw each other.  We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.
Ann Druyan


我夫君是一個廣為人知的無神論者，所以他死時，很多人對我說，或者這是可能的， 卡爾離世時，有沒有改變主意，去信有神和來生？
他們也經常問我，我會否相信死後能見到他？
我和卡爾以巨大勇氣面對死亡，拒絕了一切幻想應許給我們的平安。
對，最大的悲哀是我和卡爾是永別。我不可能會和他重聚。
但最珍貴的是，我們相依為命的20年中，我們珍惜相聚的每一刻，我們深深知道我們只是宇宙中短促生命。
我們從不輕視死亡， 以為那絕非終局。
每刻我們活著，每刻在一起，都是奇妙的。
那那不是出於什麼超自然或神明的作為。
我們是隨機的機會下的幸運兒。
那隨機的機會很仁慈和寬仁大度的給我們生命，我們可以遇到對方，就想卡爾在“宇宙”中所寫，在浩翰宇宙和漫長時間中我們能相遇，然後能一起生活20年。
那是令我堅持的動力，也是我生命的意義 - 他和我互相的對待對方，和如何仁慈對待家人。這超越了日後和卡爾重聚的盼望。
我不認為我和卡爾將來能重逢，不過，我曾和他相逢，他曾和我相逢。在浩翰宇宙的時空，我們有緣相會，那才奇妙！

Ann Druyan，美國著明天文學家 Carl Sagan 的遺孀