Nov 18, 2015

 

Death is the Greatest Blessing (5)

No one Dies Before Their Time of Completion (2)

“Grief is the price you pay for love”

                    Queen Elizabeth    

The Necessity of Grief

The seemingly randomness of death makes it difficult to see the ‘why’ of the time of death, and to state blithely that no one dies at the wrong time seems to ask why do we grieve when someone moves beyond this life of the physical.

We miss them being here.

We miss their smile, their laughter, and yes their tears, their quiet time.

But especially we miss their presence, the warmth and love that they displayed that we knew was present and that gave us such great joy.

Yes, we grieve even when we know that they did not die before their time.

I was listening to a great spiritual commentator the other day, and she said that when her daughter asked her if she wanted a celebration of her life after her death, she responded with “Hell no! I want weeping and wailing. I want your grief expressed loud and clear, to free you at that time. Only then do I want a celebration of my life.” When we grieve we release ourselves into that sense of loss that is part of this life of the physical. Of course we grieve; the bond we had will not reappear until we join them in the eternal presence with all our senses. The pain of loss is real; we need to accept that pain as part of life before we can move on in our own life.

But how can I say that no one dies before their time? Isn’t there some aspect of life that is missed when a person dies, especially when a young person dies? How can I say that they have fulfilled their purpose in life when they have had no time to seemingly have a purpose?

“Oh write of me,

not ‘Died in bitter pains’

but ‘Emigrated to another star’”

                                   Helen Hunt Jackson

Each Person Chooses their Purpose

The answer may seem unsatisfactory, but the truth is that before coming to this state of physicality, we choose our purpose in life. Yes, we choose our parents, we choose the circumstances of our birth, and in some fashion choose how we would be in this life. Now I believe we did not choose the details, or how the life would proceed, but the large picture of our purpose while here. And we choose our general time for return to no-time.

That purpose could have many aspects. Perhaps we came here to change society; or most likely we came here to, in general, move humanity along the path to manifesting heaven on earth. That could be by being an example of one moving in that direction, even as a baby gives us a glimpse of the innocence that exists in heaven or heaven on earth.

Or it could be by being a negative example, that encourages others by our failure to move in the opposite direction from us just to find some peace of mind. Thus a crib death or similar young person’s death could be conceived in that their innocence shows us the possibility of love, while the drive-by death or shoot out victim shows us the negative way that could be ours if we let ourselves slide, and could act as a signpost to someone at the edge of that culture to move in another direction.

Questions to Ponder

Grief is a natural reaction to the transition of someone. I have found it soul satisfying to see and hear all the wonderful traits and things that someone has accomplished.

What is your reaction when you attend a wake or a funeral, to the sharing of a person’s life?

Have the lives of those who seemed to ‘die before their time’ impacted you in a manner that changed a portion of the life you had been living?

Meditation

My heavenly Creator, continue to open my eyes ever more to see Your Light blazing in my life, as the Kingdom of God becomes more visible in my life. I thank You for the ever increasing awareness of the breathtaking beauty of life that surrounds me. I have become more aware of Your presence in all that I am immersed in, and every day brings a new light into my life. I see more clearly now that Your presence floods our universe, and am in awe by the wonders you place around me, in me, and through me, as a life lived.

 

Next I will talk about “Life after Life”, about what has been revealed to us about what happens after death.