Death doesn't bother me; sure loss isn't a picnic mourning represents a change within us, how will we go on? how will we survive? how will we fill that empty place in our lives that we had filled with the love both from and for the departed.
But when you think about it, mourning is more about us than it is about the departed. Few if any of us would express sorrow about where we believe our loved ones end up - sure we'll callously do it about someone else's loved ones, but when it comes down to our own, even the most hell-firey and brim-stoney among us lean universalist in praxis. Don't believe me? go to more funerals. The command to love your neighbor as yourself gets a real test when facing scenes of grief stricken loved ones searching for their own way to find meaning to their loss.*
Often when I do funerals, my own meditation drives me to ontological query. What does it mean to exist? Is existence real? Is existence merely a physical thing? Why do we who exist, spend the bulk of our "nows" re-living the past, and pre-living our futures? Is existence possible in either the past or future? Is existence limited to now? If we speak of now in this sense, it is really the "eternal now". If I exist now, then I exist in the eternal now. Neither death nor life then are of consequence to existence. How do I become fully present as an existent being in the eternal now?
When Jesus asked the question about the tower of Siloam in Luke 13, this seems to have been his point. We get caught up in words like "repent" and their connotation today; but what if repent is a call to live in the eternal now? Wasn't this the kind of "life" that Jesus offered; living water; abundant life; truth; light? The past is dim and dark, the future is cloudy, but right now we can be in the light, as he is in the light.
How then do you place context around tragedies? Is not the tragedy itself a chance for us to be present?
Why is it that two tragedies inspire him to talk about a fruit tree that has not yielded fruit in three years? Why does the vineyard keeper appeal for one more year on behalf of the tree, to prune and fertilize it so as to see it bear fruit? We look for someone or something to blame in a tragedy, but Jesus said that there was no point in that. We can spend lots of effort in pointless pursuits lobbying for or against gun control, stricter rules for schools, legislation mandating medications on the mentally ill, or making it easier to place them in institutions - none of which will prevent another tragedy.
When we can distance ourselves from the emotional fury caused by the scenes on the news, and when we can free our selves from fear of death, I can tell you the best way to prevent the next tragedy: When was the last time you reached out to someone who was troubled or emotionally unstable, or unlovely? When was the last time you asked; Who is my neighbor?
*[For those who would like to argue doctrine; watch your practice. For the few who are bold enough to condemn someone at a funeral it probably wouldn't help anyway to point to the doctrine of the keys.]
But when you think about it, mourning is more about us than it is about the departed. Few if any of us would express sorrow about where we believe our loved ones end up - sure we'll callously do it about someone else's loved ones, but when it comes down to our own, even the most hell-firey and brim-stoney among us lean universalist in praxis. Don't believe me? go to more funerals. The command to love your neighbor as yourself gets a real test when facing scenes of grief stricken loved ones searching for their own way to find meaning to their loss.*
Often when I do funerals, my own meditation drives me to ontological query. What does it mean to exist? Is existence real? Is existence merely a physical thing? Why do we who exist, spend the bulk of our "nows" re-living the past, and pre-living our futures? Is existence possible in either the past or future? Is existence limited to now? If we speak of now in this sense, it is really the "eternal now". If I exist now, then I exist in the eternal now. Neither death nor life then are of consequence to existence. How do I become fully present as an existent being in the eternal now?
When Jesus asked the question about the tower of Siloam in Luke 13, this seems to have been his point. We get caught up in words like "repent" and their connotation today; but what if repent is a call to live in the eternal now? Wasn't this the kind of "life" that Jesus offered; living water; abundant life; truth; light? The past is dim and dark, the future is cloudy, but right now we can be in the light, as he is in the light.
How then do you place context around tragedies? Is not the tragedy itself a chance for us to be present?
Why is it that two tragedies inspire him to talk about a fruit tree that has not yielded fruit in three years? Why does the vineyard keeper appeal for one more year on behalf of the tree, to prune and fertilize it so as to see it bear fruit? We look for someone or something to blame in a tragedy, but Jesus said that there was no point in that. We can spend lots of effort in pointless pursuits lobbying for or against gun control, stricter rules for schools, legislation mandating medications on the mentally ill, or making it easier to place them in institutions - none of which will prevent another tragedy.
When we can distance ourselves from the emotional fury caused by the scenes on the news, and when we can free our selves from fear of death, I can tell you the best way to prevent the next tragedy: When was the last time you reached out to someone who was troubled or emotionally unstable, or unlovely? When was the last time you asked; Who is my neighbor?
*[For those who would like to argue doctrine; watch your practice. For the few who are bold enough to condemn someone at a funeral it probably wouldn't help anyway to point to the doctrine of the keys.]
Joshua, your Grandmother-in-law is dying and I will be making the funeral arrangements soon enough. At 88 this Boxing Day, she's never had the joy of seeing any of her great grand children, and they will not miss her passing even though without her they would not now be in existence.
ReplyDeleteShe had no interest in guns all of her long life, even during the uncertainties of the Second World War. Her father a noted survivor of the First World War, having lost half his face, his nose and right eye during the "fog" of the first Battle of Gaza in 1917. If it wasn't for his friends looking for his body, he would not have been recovered from a shell hole where he would have surely died. That act in of itself was necessary for your children's existence.
You live in a peculiar society that thinks its OK for children to get massacred in order to preserve a 236 year old right that is in praxis both obsolete and redundant. But then you own guns yourself, something not needed amongst the general population in the society in which I live. Children can go to school here never having to think about wearing kevlar, a material specifically designed for protecting military personnel placed in harms way. When you say things like, "We can spend lots of effort in pointless pursuits lobbying for or against gun control, stricter rules for schools, legislation mandating medications on the mentally ill, or making it easier to place them in institutions - none of which will prevent another tragedy."; upon what evidence do you base such an outrageously stupid claim?
And finally, for want of repetition, Just exactly who do you count as being, your neighbour? Every one of your in-laws, amongst your family and especially your own children who you're apparently quite happy to have placed in harms way, are just a few of the 6.9 billion you and your followers are called to love. Or do you cherry pick and choose as suits your purpose as does the Child evangelism Fellowship in America, preparing its young converts, obedience to commit genocide invoking 1 Samuel 15:3.
And, Joshua, even with plenty of evidence from the UK experience, it doesn't take much intelligence to look for the evidence from other countries taking similar measures. Australia for example. Maybe you'll now consider retracting your comments in the light of the evidence and Obama's determined response. The cry of "genuine" innocents, this time, truly need your support.
ReplyDeleteYour wife's grandmother died on 3rd January and Cremated on 25th January. You probably know this already. I have preserved the text of Mum's Eulogy and a number of diary extracts that were read out, for you both, and will pass them on to you sometime soon.
ReplyDelete