On Death and Dying

Let me not pray to be sheltered from
dangers facing but to be fearless in facing
them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life's
battlefiled but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward,
feeling your mercy in my success alone;
but let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.

Rabindranath Tagore
Fruit-Gathering

Death is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal one, even if we think we have mastered it on many levels.