How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a

The poet and mystic George MacDonald, whose words often walked the border between heaven and earth, once wrote: “How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.” In these words lies a wisdom as gentle as dusk itself. He speaks not of death as a terror, but as a natural turning, a rhythm in the great song of existence. To him, death is not an ending but a sunset—a quiet fading into beauty, a transformation, not a destruction. The fear of death, then, is not born of truth but of misunderstanding, for those who know the language of nature understand that nothing truly dies—it merely changes form beneath the hand of eternity.

MacDonald lived in the nineteenth century, an age caught between the rising power of science and the deep roots of faith. He was both a minister and a storyteller, one who sought to reconcile reason with wonder. For him, death was not a foe to be fought but a mystery to be embraced. When he compared death to a sunset, he drew upon the ancient wisdom that saw all of life as cyclical—day and night, birth and death, sowing and harvest, all part of the same divine rhythm. The sun does not cease to exist when it sets; it simply moves beyond our sight. So too, he believed, does the soul when it departs from the world we know.

It is indeed strange, as he says, that we fear death, yet find peace and beauty in the sunset. For both mark a departure of light. But when we behold the sky’s last glow—golden, crimson, and violet—we do not weep at its vanishing; rather, we stand in awe at its splendor. Why, then, do we not see death in the same way? Because we have forgotten that endings are sacred. The fear of death arises when we mistake the night for oblivion, rather than a passage into dawn unseen. To one who understands the circle of life, death is not to be feared, but to be honored as the completion of a day well-lived.

Consider the story of Socrates, who met his death with serenity unmatched. When condemned to die by drinking poison, he comforted his grieving students, saying that death was either a peaceful sleep or a journey to a higher realm. His composure confounded those around him, for they could not comprehend how a man could face death without trembling. Yet Socrates understood, as MacDonald did centuries later, that fear is born from illusion. The wise know that death is not the opposite of life, but a continuation in another form—like the sun sinking only to rise again elsewhere.

The sunset, to the soul awake, is not a symbol of loss but of transition. It tells us that light cannot truly die; it only travels beyond our horizon. So too with the soul: its departure from the body is but its passage into another sky. To fear death, then, is to deny the promise written in every evening sky—that beauty endures beyond its moment. Just as the stars reveal themselves only after the sun departs, so too may truths beyond our sight shine only after death. Thus, MacDonald’s words invite us to replace our fear with faith, our trembling with wonder.

His message also carries a call to live well, for one who has lived in harmony with the day need not fear its close. The person who has loved deeply, served humbly, and sought understanding greets death as the traveler greets rest after a long journey. It is not the end, but the fulfillment. Those who cling to fear do so because they have not yet seen the unity of all things—that life and death are not enemies but partners in an eternal dance. When one learns this truth, the fear of death melts away, as naturally as sunlight fading into twilight.

Lesson and Practice:
When you behold the sunset, remember that it is the teacher of peace. Let its beauty remind you that endings are part of the divine design. Practice seeing change not as loss, but as transformation. When fear of death stirs in your heart, step outside and watch the day surrender to night, and know that this too is sacred. Live each moment so that when your own sun sets, it does so upon a sky of gold. For as George MacDonald reminds us, it is strange to fear what nature performs every day in glory. The wise learn from the sunset: to bow before the mystery with reverence, to trust that beyond the darkness, the dawn awaits.