Death Gives Us the Possibility of Meaningful Life

Here is a very interesting essay, by a philosopher at Clemson by the name of Todd May, on the role death plays in giving us meaning in life:

The second, less obvious lesson of this moment of facing death is that in
order for our lives to have a shape, in order that they not become formless, we
need to die. This will strike some as counterintuitive, even a little
ridiculous. But in order to recognize its truth, we should reflect a bit on what
immortality might mean.

Immortality lasts a long time. It is not for nothing that in his story
“The Immortal” Jorge Luis Borges pictures the immortal characters as unconcerned
with their lives or their surroundings. Once you’ve followed your passion —
playing the saxophone, loving men or women, traveling, writing poetry — for,
say, 10,000, it will likely begin to lose its grip. There may be more to say or
to do than anyone can ever accomplish. But each of us develops particular
interests, engages in particular pursuits. When we have been at them long
enough, we are likely to find ourselves just filling time. In the case of
immortality, an inexhaustible period of time.

And when there is always time for everything, there is no urgency for
anything. It may well be that life is not long enough. But it is equally true
that a life without limits would lose the beauty of its moments. It would become
boring, but more deeply it would become shapeless. Just one damn thing after
another.

This is the paradox death imposes upon us: it grants us the possibility of
a meaningful life even as it takes it away. It gives us the promise of each
moment, even as it threatens to steal that moment, or at least reminds us that
some time our moments will be gone. It allows each moment to insist upon itself,
because there are only a limited number of them. And none of us knows how
many.