In our case, among the many blessings of employment during a recession, bountiful food and housing, we still had our father. Nobody lives forever and my parents are 75, so we need to cherish the time we have together as we all should everyday.
My church hands out little black books at the beginning of every Lenten season and there's a reading every day that talks about the history of the church or the significance of the day and then provides a portion of a reading from Holy Week, usually a least. Because of our trip to Europe, I have fallen a few days behind in the readings and last night's was the Good Friday topic of death and funerals. One thing struck me in particular. They wrote of the three stages of a Christian funeral: the wake (mourning), the service and the burial. The burial represents finality. Nothing is the same after the burial. Life for all of those who knew the deceased will never be the same.
I couldn't stop thinking about that.
2 comments:
sigh, you are very spot on today! It is difficult in a life as blessed and fortunate as we lead in the west not to take things for granted. Especially family.
Definitely seems that your dad's illness brought on a sense of perspective. I think all of us in this country need a reminder now and then of how good we have it. Our lives are so easy compared to many others in this world.
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