One of my teachers' sister died yesterday after a long illness. Even though they knew the end was near, it was still tough to face it. She considered going home but her sister was Jewish and would be buried within twenty-four hours of her death. The flight alone would have taken seventeen hours.
So when she knocked on my door at 8:00 tonight, she came in and we chatted til now.
It's late. I need to get to bed, but . . .
Death is an interesting concept. So final. So complete. We all know we're headed there, but we do everything in our power to delay this inevitability. Why? Because we have a job to do. We're here on this planet, at this time, to do something that no one else can do quite like we can. We don't want to go until we finish that job. But then the question becomes, is the job ever really finished, or is it just passed on to someone else? And someone after that?
Then there's the pain of the loss of a loved one for those who are left behind. Sometimes guilt, too. I know too well, from experience.
After loosing both parents, an infant child, and a brother, the pain didn't decrease with each subsequent loss. It just was. You learn to live with it, and after a while, it isn't as overwhelming anymore. It takes up less and less of your consciousness, allowing you to live more and more in the present.
Dark subject, I know, but that's where I am tonight.
Hope this didn't darken your day.
Living alone gives me plenty of time to think.
What's on your mind?
So when she knocked on my door at 8:00 tonight, she came in and we chatted til now.
It's late. I need to get to bed, but . . .
Death is an interesting concept. So final. So complete. We all know we're headed there, but we do everything in our power to delay this inevitability. Why? Because we have a job to do. We're here on this planet, at this time, to do something that no one else can do quite like we can. We don't want to go until we finish that job. But then the question becomes, is the job ever really finished, or is it just passed on to someone else? And someone after that?
Then there's the pain of the loss of a loved one for those who are left behind. Sometimes guilt, too. I know too well, from experience.
After loosing both parents, an infant child, and a brother, the pain didn't decrease with each subsequent loss. It just was. You learn to live with it, and after a while, it isn't as overwhelming anymore. It takes up less and less of your consciousness, allowing you to live more and more in the present.
Dark subject, I know, but that's where I am tonight.
Hope this didn't darken your day.
Living alone gives me plenty of time to think.
What's on your mind?
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