Doctor Who and Death

If you have never seen the show Doctor Who then what is wrong with you? I will admit I have only recently discovered this sci-fi masterpiece but I am usually on the slow end of things like this. One of the basic ideas of the show is that The Doctor (A Time Lord) does not ever actually die but rather he regenerates in to a new Doctor. At first glance this would seem like a pretty awesome way to keep on going. When this is first reintroduced in the latest series on the BBC it is presented in a very positive light however this perspective changes by the end of season 4.

In the interest of protecting those of you who have never seen the show I will not go in to any specific details but during David Tennant's run as The Doctor we begin to see more and more times in which the show wrestles with the negative side of regeneration. One of the key moments in this discussion comes when the Doctor descrives this process as essentially death because each new Doctor is truly someone new with different perspectives and character. In the final moments as the Doctor David Tennant says that he does not want to do it. Essentially The Doctor does not want to die, he fears death. The "man" who can travel through time and space fears death. The man who always seems to be able to save the world or universe fears death.

I think one of the reasons the show spent so much time dealing with this idea is that it is the one thing all of humanity must wrestle with. It does not matter if your are first world or third world you must wrestle with your own demise. All of man kind must somehow find a way to come to grips with death and what happens after death. While I fully understand that I do not know it all when it comes to life after death, I do believe that I have some pretty good ideas about what is to come.

First, there will be an afterlife for everyone. All of us have a soul and that soul will continue on once this body dies. Second, not all souls are treated the same in the afterlife. Third, how a soul is treated in the afterlife is a direct result of the decisions made while the soul was a part of a physical body. Fourth, while all of your decisions can impact your soul in the after life only one decision is necessary to change from spending an eternity of torment in to one of joy and happiness. The decision to follow Jesus is the only way to make this change. It is only way to truly be able to face death with something other than fear.

It is to you how you want to face death. Do you want to be like The Doctor and face it with fear? Or do you want to be able to face death with peace and yes even joy? The choice is yours.