Since our long-time friends, Bill and Mary Anne Robinson, lost their 35-year-old daughter Leslie on Sunday, September 20, I have been thinking about how we all need to be prepared to die. News about the earthquakes in Indonesia and the tsunami and quake in American Samoa has also caused me to think. We don’t know how long we will live. Death often happens suddenly. It might come very unexpectedly.
I have found help in Bread for the Journey, a book of daily readings by Father Henri Nouwen. It was published in 1997 after his unexpected death at the age of 64 in 1996.
When we think about death, we often think about what will happen to us after we have died. But it is more important to think about what will happen to those we leave behind. The way we die has a deep and lasting effect on those who stay alive. It will be easier for our family and friends to remember us with joy and peace if we have said a grateful good-bye than if we die with bitter and disillusioned hearts.
The greatest gift we can offer our families and friends is the gift of gratitude. Gratitude sets them free to continue living without bitterness or self-recrimination.
How can we be prepared to die? By not having any unfinished relational business. The question is, Have I forgiven those who have hurt me and asked forgiveness from those I have hurt? When I feel at peace with all the people who are part of my life, my death might cause great grief, but it will not cause guilt or anger.
When we are ready to die at any moment, we are also ready to live at any moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment