Death has been on my mind a lot this year. Many people around me have been faced with the deaths of loved ones, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I too am secretly anticipating with dread when death will strike someone around me. I am no different from the people around me, some are better people and some are worse, but death visits everyone.
Pain, grief, denial and acceptance are all words associated with the process we go through after the death of a loved one. However, one word we do not hear frequently is celebration. We seem to get so caught up in the loss that we face that we forget to celebrate our memories of the person. We forget to reminisce about the unique qualities that our loved one possessed and the gifts they gave us.
The western world has always viewed death as something to be feared. It is an uncertain place that is filled with the shadows of our subconscious minds. Time cannot be stopped, but this also means that the processes of time cannot be stopped. Birth, life, death and rebirth, which is a Christian idea, are a part of a powerful and beautifully complex process, which at times can be stunningly painful.
I am sad that my parents must get older, but I am also thrilled that as they age I will be able to begin my own family. I hope to someday marry and have children. I also hope to be writer and help the world with some of its struggles, but these events can only come with time, experience and maturational processes. I will hand down my love and experience to my children as I hope they will to their children.
We all have the ability to influence the world while we are hear, whether it be by having faith the size of a mustard seed or leading a revolution that helps people to learn how to be in a loving relationship amongst themselves and with the holy. Jesus’ life was about the here and now of how to live in a community of other people. We are in the season of advent right now, an anticipation of a birth. I would ask, however, that we remember the love and humility of Jesus throughout the year, whether it is in seasons of birth, life, death or rebirth. Once we discover that we are apart of a life cycle that is bigger than ourselves, we will begin the healing process that is necessary when we lose someone we love.