But look at what I found recently in preparing for a presentation on grief. Ecclesiastes 7:3-4 (nlt) says: "Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time."
Really?
Shortly after this, I went to see a theatre production of ‘Tuesdays with Morrie.’ at Gallery 7. In short, it is about a journalist’s weekly visits with his dying professor. Morrie feels that people refuse to believe that they will one day die. As a result, they have many regrets as death comes closer because they have not lived their lives as fully as they would have liked. Morrie says, "The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." Morrie wants Mitch, the journalist, to see how he can appreciate the smaller, more genuine things in life, knowing that his death is approaching. I thought this spoke to what the writer of Ecclesiastes was saying in part.
Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. ~Norman Cousins.
Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. ~Henry Van Dyke
AND
Death never takes the wise man by surprise; He is always ready to go. ~Jean de La Fontaine
For the Christian, it goes beyond learning to live well here on this earth. We also live in the assurance of what comes after this life. Death need hold no fear because Christ has won the victory over the grave in His death and resurrection. So physical death takes us into the presence of our Saviour with whom we live forever.
“The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.” ~Seneca
We live because He died and rose again. Hallelujah!
Interesting - but there are many ways to look at this. My Grandmother was a profoundly spiritual woman, but never thought or spoke much about dying and death except to express surprise at the fact she lived into her late 90's. She very much lived in the present, and wasn't too concerned about death or about trying to convert people to her beliefs about the journey after death. She thought about life, and I think accepted that death would take care of itself. I miss my Zen Oma.
ReplyDeleteTamara, have you seen (or read) Tuesdays with Morrie? From what you write about your Oma, she seems to exemplify what Morrie says about truly living because one doesn't fear death. She sounds like she was an amazing woman and I can understand why you miss her.
ReplyDeleteThere were many nuggets in that production that I think you would appreciate.