Death’s Assault

Alexander (b. 356 BCE) was son of the Greek king Philip. Within ten years of ascending the throne he conquered a vast portion of the world. But what happened to him finally? He died in a palace in a town in Iraq as pathetically as a pauper dying in his hovel. In his life, he got whatever he desired, but he left this world empty-handed. His vast empire was divided up among his three military generals after he died because his only son had been murdered while he was still alive.

Alexander could not tolerate any sort of opposition. He believed that opposition should be crushed as soon as it reared its head. It is said that the secret of his vast conquests was his lightning speed. He would rush and immediately strike at and vanquish his enemy. No other military leader of his times was of the same calibre in this regard. But death proved to be even swifter than him. On 13th June 323 BCE, when death assaulted him, he had no option whatsoever other than to meekly surrender before it.

Death comes to tell us how powerless we are before God’s power. Every day, we see death arriving all around us. Yet, we learn no lesson from this. We choose to be blind to this greatest reality of life, till, one day, death arrives at the appointed time for us and takes us away, before we have thought about it and learnt the lessons that we should have from it.

Death is the greatest lesson for Man. Yet, Man refuses to learn from it.