uhh, guys I'm scared... [spoilers ahead]

[supa dupa ninja]

I was reading reading phoenix: a tale of the future about a couple hours ago. [spoilers ahead]
later in the manga the main character was made immortal by the phoenix to help him revive mankind (who killed each other earlier).
this all good and dandy to some people but...
it reawakened my fear, the fear of being immortal.
laugh all you want but when I read through the final pages, I felt sorry for the guy. his all alone in the world and he can never die. this in fact is my phobia. I don't know how to explain this but I felt really uncomfortable after reading it. opinions please...

edit: and one other thing that fueled my fear, uzumaki's bitter sweet ending.

[Rashiir]

You're afraid of eternity in Heaven?

I used to be too. But then I realized that God was good and I would not be alone, but with Him. God says it's going to be good, so it will be.

[CobaltAngel]

I know what you mean. But when ever I start to worry about that - I just remember in the bible tells us Heaven is a wonderful place. Hell is where you gotta worry about. -^_^- Anyway, they say when you're in Heaven time doesn't even work the same way...

[Shinja]

etrnaty is one of those things that alot of people have fears of because its somthing that we cant really understand while we live in this life. while we live in this mortal and sinfull body of ours we have grown to accept that everything passes away, death is part of this life and nothing on this world lasts for ever. therefore the idea of etenity is forign to our experiance here on earth, and very often what we dont understand or can comprehend is what we fear the most, i know how engines work so im not afaid to sick my hands down in the moving parts of one , but to some, they wont touch it for fear of getting seriously hurt.

as odd as it sounds i used to be afraid of eternity, im some one whos always working on somthing or looking for the next thing to work on and i was partly scared about eternity cause i didnt know what i would do for ever.

anyay i prayed about it over 3 nights and God took my fear away.

fear doesnt come from the Lord

[supa dupa ninja]

Thanks to you guys I feel all better again ^-^.
but the other thing in the story is that the guy is all alone and has no one to talk to, just tom hanks in castaway. If I wer that guy I would probably went coocoo by now.

[Spiritsword]

That's interesting to hear your perspective, supa dupa ninja. My greatest fear is actually the opposite of yours--a fear of non-existence. If I could get over nagging doubts and fully believe in eternity, and an afterlife, then I'd be quite happy. True, eternity is somewhat intimidating because, as others put it, it is so outside our temporal realm of experience. But I just think of eternity as something qualitatively, rather than quantitatively, different, and that helps me. As I think of it, eternity is not endless time but an existence outside of the constraints of time, like God's existence. So I doubt you'll be worrying about how many days have passed once you're there.
My greatest fear is (even though I know this is not true, I'm just scared to think about it) the ending of my awareness, of my self, of the continuity of my being. No one has ever really been able to help me much with this fear either, except God, but doubts still creep in. It was interesting to hear the other side, though.

Spiritsword

[SenseiPenPen]

Eternity- the thought it as an unending amount of time- makes me sick to my stomach. I can feel ya, Supa Dupa Ninja.

A while ago, I was complaining to God that He stuck me in a boring universe. (I'm serious.) A universe without the unknowns and questions that pervade anime and SF and such things... Since then He's been changing my view on things quite a bit... One of those is my outlook on eternity.

I don't see it as a really long time anymore. I've come to the conclusion/realization/revelation/whatever that time doesn't exist for unFallen creatures, which is what we will be in Heaven. So rather than being "A Really Stinking Long Time," I've learned to see it as more of an "Eternal Now."

I dunno if that makes sense or not.

[Spiritsword]

Makes sense to me. I think of eternity as an existence outside of physical constraints, therefore, an existence outside of time.

[supa dupa ninja]

I made this poem up when I saw your opinion guys here we go!
"Immortality, when time holds no bounds
when eternity brings no meanings.
when the day comes and the lord judges my soul,
I shall say to him, my lord, if you judge me and let me be at your side I shall think not of my fears but think only of you. if you judge me a sinner, I'll be thinking of you in the fiery pits for all eternity for my love for you is eternal, like you my lord. forever is my enemy yet I'll face it with valiance my lord for... I love thee"

[Haibane Shadsie]

I've read "Phoenix: A Tale of the Future". In fact,I read it, and was totally blown away by it. I loved it. I bought "Dawn", too, and read it, and am hoping the rest of the books get translated. In fact, if I get to go to Anime Expo 2004, and have the money for it... I want to have the person who made my costume this year (Anime Expo 2003 was my first con, and I went as Vash the Stampede)... to make me a costume of the Phoenix. I've drawn up designs for one.

I found Masato being alone so sad. I was thinking that if I were in his situation... I would spend a few hundred years finding inventive ways to commit suicide and hoping something would work I'd definitely go insane... and am wondering how Masato kept even a fragment of sanity. The part I found espeically sad (mod can spoiler button this if they want to, I don't know how...)

SPOILER:

Was when Masato found that coffin with the person in cryosleep that said "Don't wake me up for 5000 years." He would visit that coffin, and wait, and wait... just waiting for 5000 years to pass so that he could awaken the person and have another human to talk to. And when he does... All that's left in the chamber is dust!

END SPOILER.

I like immortal characters in fiction. I just do. I love the Phoenix, for instance. I also love Manji of "Blade of the Immortal". (He, like lots of immortal characters, hates his situation, and is in fact, on a mission to kill a thousand evil people so he can finally die). I love the Elves of the Lord of the Rings books. I liked and felt sorry for Longinis in the short-lived TV seires "Roar" (the dude was a villain, so I didn't like his personality,but I liked him because I found him interesting and felt sorry for him), I love Vash the Stampede and he's...

SPOILER

extremely long-lived, if not immortal.

END SPOILER.

As for the the fear thing... my great fear is eternal suffering. I'm not afraid of eternity as long as I go to Heaven. According to what I believe and whom I've accepted... I will be going there. I just have this phobia of loosing my salvation. I'm horribly afraid that when I die... I'll find myself in Hell... in pain and despair forever. I also don't fancy the idea of living in this (living, Earth) plane of reality forever, because the world is full of suffering. I remember seeing a movie on TV one time... "White Dwarf". It was a space-fantasy on FOX. It was a highly intersting movie - saw it years ago. Anyway, on the planet the people were on, there was a prison for intergalactic criminals. The harshest penalty was not execution (which was a rather disturbing prospect - as the condemmed were fed to ... creatures) The harshest penalty was to have an immortality serum, secreted by one of the seintient species of the planet into the mouth. The criminal would then be unable to die, and would be held in the prison - locked away from freedom - forever. Something like that... scares the crudola outta me.

As for Heaven... I think "time" will be diffrent there. I don't think it will be possible for anyone to become bored, for example. I'm rather looking forward to it, as I'm a very time-challenged person. (I find being on time difficult.. I like do to things when I feel like it, in my own time.. which causes a lot of problems for me, I have trouble sleeping and getting up, ect.)