NFFNSNC

It may look like I just put my fingers on the wrong “home keys” and accidentally typed the letters above. While my typing skills leave a lot to be desired, I actually intended to type those letters.

Due to a little research I was doing the other day, there was a time when those letters had real meaning to some people. You can find information about those letters in many different places.  The following is from the website everything2.com.  

NFFNSNC is a Latin abbreviation, frequently found inscribed on Roman grave markers, which stands for non fui, fui, non sum, non curo (“I was not, I was, I am not, I don’t care.”).

The phrase is associated with the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, and is often found on the gravestones of his many Roman followers. Epicurus famously held that death was meaningless and not to be feared.

While Epicurus has been dead for centuries, it seems to me that some of his philosophical approach to life is still with us. While there may be variations in how this is to be interpreted and applied, at its core NFFNSNC basically means: “This life is all there is.”

What a hopeless, helpless, hapless philosophy of life that is!

What a widely popular idea that seems to be in varying forms in our day. Just listen to some of the “great thinkers” of our time.

Some will say, “You only go around once in life. Grab all the gusto you can.” Others will encourage us to “find ourselves.” Still others will encourage us to follow a path that leads to what they call “nirvana.” A voice will be heard promoting “self-actualization.”

The list can go on and on, but I think you get the idea. If the focus of my life is me, my focus is way off. At least, that is what the wise man of old was inspired to write. We may remember these words from Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments,for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (NKJV).

It may interest you to know that the research I was doing was on the book of 2 Peter. You may remember that Peter informs his readers that “…we did not follow cleverly devised myths…” (2 Peter 1:16). 

It seems to me that we would be well-advised to follow his example in this, since he was inspired to also write about our existence after this life is over and the judgment we will all experience. Death is not meaningless. It is a passageway into eternity.

Are you prepared?

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