Imagine the man who straps a bomb to his chest, with the intention of blowing up people in an airport, a stadium or a cafe, along with himself.  He sacrifices his own life because he believes he will be rewarded in the afterlife, which will, in turn, mean that he will continue to ‘live’ in paradise.  Sounds ridiculously mad, if you ask me, but I’m going to assume that those who are willing to do this actually do believe that they are doing something worthwhile and good.  Here’s my question for these people (I’m going to assume that they possibly can read this, seeing as how they believe in the afterlife!!!): While it’s clear that you do not mind blowing yourself up, how would you feel were someone to blow up a train (or anywhere, for that matter) in which your family were sitting or standing?  Let’s say that your mother and your sister were checking in for a flight, you’d be okay if a bomb went off right next to them, therefore ending their lives?

I’m just trying to clarify the situation here.  I simply want to know if one rule applies for all, or are double-standards at play?  Not that I agree with ‘an eye for an eye’, because I don’t – this is more of a hypothetical question.  I would be appalled at anyone committing murder, no matter how they did it, why, or what medium they used.  Just to make it clear!

So what does the rest of the world think will happen to these men who commit suicidal acts of terror (or martyrdom, as they insist it is)?  Is there an afterlife?  Is there a heaven?  Is there a hell?  Is there nothing?  Some of you may be quite certain about what happens to a person once he or she dies, while others may not be as sure.  Either way, we have no way of really knowing.  It is only one’s faith that can ‘speak’ to each of us on this matter.

My sons go to a fairly religious school – Christian, to be exact.  They learn about God and Jesus Christ in this school, and I am happy with it because regardless of whether one is religious or not, there is an historical relevance to religion which transcends to being relevant today.

Within their Christian education, my kids are learning what is morally right and wrong, and these principles are practiced in our home.  They feel safe and happy with what they are learning, so I leave them to continue to believe anything that is not hurting anyone else and certainly not hurting themselves.  However, walking hand in hand with this bliss, there have been times when fear comes into play.  The fear is of ‘the devil’ and I’m afraid to say that this is where I straight out tell my children that ‘the devil’ does not exist.    ‘The devil’ did not bring drought to Jamaica, ‘the devil’ has not made me sick, ‘the devil’ did not make any woman kill her child, ‘the devil’ did not cause the start of wars.  In fact, ‘the devil’ didn’t make anyone do anything.

Now, I am fully aware that people do evil things.  I am fully aware that people act in completely selfish ways.  I do not, however, believe that there is a man with horns and a long fork, nor a snake, nor a spirit, nor any other thing, which compels someone to do something immoral.  Simply put, we each have options and each of us are capable of making a morally sound choice.  You still think the devil exists?  Perhaps when each of us do something bad or immoral, we are each ‘the devil’ in that moment.

You have to admit it, my friends, the cellulite that plagues our bodies (okay, some of you lucky ones, and younger ones, don’t have this issue) is much better looking when we have a tan.  This is only an issue for those of us who are really white, of course, which is why we spend countless hours trying to darken our skin in the sun.  Sure, we hear the warning signs about skin cancer.  Sure, we lather up our children with SPF 50.  Sure, we make them wear scratch vests/swim shirts with UV protection.  Sure, we tell them it’s time to get out of the sea and come into the shade.  Sure, we argue with said children when they fuss about having to succumb to our helicopter-parenting over this subject.  But how many of us practice what we preach?

When I was a teenager, back in the early to mid-nineties, I can tell you that there were countless times when I slapped on the baby oil and sat there soaking up the sun.  Oh how I felt that I had accomplished the world when my skin was glistening with a golden hue by sunset.  Better yet, after I had taken a shower and put on my white short shorts with a white tank top, I looked at my tanned self in the full-length mirror with such glee.  That was a perfect day.  That was a perfect holiday.

So why is it that we in the west do this to ourselves, even though we are bombarded with the facts about skin cancer?  Why is it that we find it so unattractive for our skin to be pasty white?  In fact, I go a horrid pale yellow that makes me look like I have a (non-existent) case of washed-out jaundice.  I seriously look a million times better when I have a tan.  But would the entire world agree with me?  Did you know that the Japanese and Chinese make it their mission to stay as white as possible?  My niece goes to school with many girls from those two countries, and she tells me that her peers are so careful with preserving their extraordinarily pale colour that they even wear sunscreen when it rains.

My present care of my skin falls somewhere between knowing full-well that I should be practicing what I preach to my boys and wanting that same tanned body which I had twenty-five years ago.  At my age, I need the tan because, quite simply, brown fat is nicer than white fat.

There is no doubt that life is full of a lot of angst and difficulties.  Who said it would ever be easy?  Problems come in all forms: love, health, money, friendships and so on.  Every one of us has had some issue at some point in life.  Sure, some people have faced far more hardships than others, but we have all had a taste of the bad times in life.  Right?  The real issue here is not what happens to us, but how we deal with it.  You’ve heard this a thousand times and then some, I’m sure.

I went to the memorial service of a very special person who had an illness for a number of years.  She was far from old, so her passing was far too soon.  I had known her for a few years, not particularly well, but enough to get a glimpse of the beautiful soul she truly was.  This glimpse, which she so graciously gave me in the several conversations we had during the time I knew her, widened to an enormous window between the night of her passing and her memorial service.  The absolute joy she contributed to the world was second to none.  I don’t think that I have ever heard so many people consistently saying how much light and happiness she gave to everyone around her and how much she loved life and lived life with pure joy.  Happiness and Joy – shouldn’t we live our lives this way?  Shouldn’t we simply choose to live our lives this way?  She did.  So should the rest of us.