Restoration published a farewell article from Father wrote wherein he talked about approaching the end of his life and how he needed to spend his final days, not focused on the process of dying, but instead - living. Paying attention to the people around you, doing life-giving things (he picked some books to read and study), and being present in life until the last moment.
Athough we aren't all as close to death, (but who knows, right?) I can't imagine better advice. All of us will die, in the end, and it is so tempting to allow the tendrils of death - fear, darkness, despair - to creep into our minds and hearts when we see suffering around us and remember the shortness of life.
Even those who don't believe in an afterlife can understand that we will miss out on what we have now if we go through our days concentrating on the end. But if I believe in the mercy of Christ and the fullness of life after death, I can choose to stop already dying and start living my entire life, now being only the beginning chapter to eternity.
Something everyone can relate to right now is the threat of terrorism. C.S. Lewis, despite living in an earlier era, talked about how to approach the possibility of being bombed. He said:
"Let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts - not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs."
- On Living in an Atomic Age -
To take my cue from Fr. Pat and C.S. Lewis, I want to become a person who spends each day mindfully: enjoying tea, bathing the baby, feeding the bunnies, cleaning up our messes, kissing my husband, grieving in a healthy way, celebrating beauty, praising God. Embracing life, not death. I would like to screw worrying about when my moment of death might come and let it find me truly "being", so that it can become a but a doorway into "Being".
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