In the book ‘Life After Death’ By Deepak Chopra, tells a series of teaching stories about a wandering sage and a young woman whose reactions mirror our own. She loves, clings, worries, and tries to hold together what feels fragile.
And beneath all of it, one fear follows her: death.
The fear of endings.
The fear of disappearance.
The fear that everything familiar can suddenly be taken away.
Following the journey of the sage and the young woman, they see smoke rising into the sky. When the woman goes to investigate, she finds a village ravaged. Invaders have swept through like a violent wind.
House after house is burned.
Walls collapse.
Lives are overturned.
Among the devastation, only one home remains standing. Out in front of the untouched house sits an old woman.
The traveler asks her,
“Why, among all this destruction, was your house spared?”
The old woman replies,
“As the marauders approached, I cried out,
‘Please, help me! My family inside has scarlet fever — a death sentence in those times!’”
At once, the invaders hesitate. Then they turn away. They will risk violence, but they will not risk death.
Watching this, the traveler trembles.
If even those who destroy life are frightened of losing their own, what safety could anyone possibly have?
The sage uses the moment to shift her vision.
Death seems final only when we believe we are what can be destroyed.
If we think we are the house, the body, the identity, the history — then death appears final.
The sage tells her there are only two words needed to stand beyond death:
I AM
This got me thinking about Moses, He stood before the burning bush, that did not consume and asked God His name.
The answer came:
“I AM WHO I AM.” – Exodus 3:14
The I AM or Being itself.
The true essence of eternity;
Presence without beginning or end.
The woman’s terror is that she will vanish.
The sage’s teaching is that what is most true has never been something death could erase.
Jesus speaks directly into this ancient fear:
“Whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” – John 11:26
Not that forms do not pass,
but that the life given by God is deeper than every ending.
Her fear was death.
But death cannot touch what is eternal.
Reflection
What part of myself have I mistaken for something that could be lost?
Prayer
Lord,
When I see how fragile life can be, fear rises quickly.
I cling to what passes and call it permanent.
Lift my eyes to the presence that remains.
Anchor me in the life that comes from You.
You are the great I Am.
Help me live from that truth.
Amen.
