The mid-twentieth-century chaplain of the United States Senate, Peter Marshall, might best be known for his telling of the legend of the merchant of Baghdad. The story goes like this:

A merchant sends his servant down to the market. The servant quickly returns. He is agitated and frightened. He says to his master, “Down at the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd, and when I turned around I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Master, please lend me your horse, for I must hasten away to avoid her. I will ride to Samarra and there I will hide, and Death will not find me.” The merchant agrees, lends his horse, and the servant wastes no time in galloping off. Later that day, the merchant himself heads down to the market and finds Death standing in the crowd. He asks her why she made a threatening gesture at his servant that morning. Death replies, “That was not a threatening gesture. It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”

This story reminds us that none of us escapes our appointment with death. The solution is neither to flee it nor to seek it out. Rather, we must each prepare for Samarra.