Death Becomes Us (Only If We Let It)
I am in a constant state of denying the inevitability of my own death. I constantly try to work more, or faster, or stronger, in order to gain some more of life. I believe it comes from a lack of emotion (compassio) in everyday living; it is not for sentimental reasons we should go on living with passion everyday. Jesus “raised persons from the dead.” There are two ways to read Jesus’ raisings: 1) literally: Jesus defied the natural processes of death and brought them back to life, or 2) metaphorically: Jesus defied the psychological, political and cultural processes that kept persons from truly living and brought them to abundant life.
Is this lack of emotionality and denial of death making it hard for families to say good-bye to loved ones at the end of their lives? This morning’s New York Times hosted an article which touched on the implications of ‘end of life decisions’ for families and friends (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23life.html). As the bumper stickers state: “Life is short . . .” During this time of Lent, let us together consider our temporality, our lives and even our deaths, so that those around us will meet one who is so in touch with both life and death, the ordinary and the miraculous, the nominal and the phenomenal. Break those psychological, political and cultural processes that keep you from truly living and just may bring you to life abundant.