DEATH - A MEDITATION

Death is not pleasant, not easy to face,
but giving it some thought in advance
is surely good and holy preparation.

It should be comforting to realize how many friends are "on the other side" waiting
to welcome us. They will surely ease our passing and make ready a place for us
with God.

People seem to die much as they have lived. Bill Fitzmaurice went stoically
and uncomplaining in his matter-of-fact
New England way.

Ray Engebretsen went out with braggadocio, much as he had lived, his demise reported
in a Washington Post series written
by Lisa Keen.

'Cissa (Narcissa) Featherstone was devastated.

Chris Sargent maintained her cheery outlook on life, saying of her cancer,
"Oliver twists" and then Bob gave her
a pain-killer.

Art Espey began jovially, but throughout remained private and isolated in his struggle, piling up boxes of unopened HIV medications. I had took him finally to the hospital. I was hurrying for fear he would collapse in my convertible, but he asked me to slow down, so that he could enjoy the bright sunny spring day, knowing, I guess, that he would not walk out of George Washington hospital.

Living, of course, is our only preparation
for dying.

All of us must surely sense that we are not made for "this life" alone, but for something better, something greater - eternity.

We know that there are always within us needs unsatisfied, a restlessness unfilled, thirst unquenched -- an emptiness which only death and afterlife can possibly fill. There really can creep in a boredom with reality, an ennui, a wanting something more,
something greater, something beyond.

I think this is a healthy preparation
for the ultimate change and union with God.

The NAMES QUILT is an awesome and sobering expression of reactions and attitudes
of thousands of people toward death. Courage, humor, rage and acceptance are stitched together in the drawings, personal mementos, scraps of poetry and bravery, and bits
of philosophy with which people attempt
to understand loss, come to terms with grief, and retain hope.

Death is our last chance to be valiant, courageous, loving, caring, appreciative, thankful for all that life, and people,
have given us.

It is an opportunity to do one last thing well. we should not die before our time has come, not give up, not end before we end,
but live as the cliche has it, "each day
to its fullest," until the last.

We are still among our fellow humans and we must to desert them ahead of schedule, not give up, not spurn them or ignore them
or lose interest in them just because they have more time remaining than we have.

Like the glass of water -- half empty
or half full? Our last days on earth -- do we spend them dying or living?

Death must be like the plunge into a cold swimming pool. You just have to summon faith that you will survive, and then you let go.
I trust that God is waiting there, arms outstretched so that we will not fall into the abyss, but rise up with Him in glory.

Death might be though of as an entrance into a room where friend are waiting -- too many of them, it seems, as life goes on
and people die. But with the loss of every friend in this life, we gain another friend ready to welcome us as we cross over into eternity.

Life is not God's greatest gift to us:
free will and eternity are. Life is merely
a preparation, an anti-chamber leading to a banquet of light.

It is possible to face death bravely.
An awareness of approaching death makes
each day more appreciated, precious, important and valuable.

A forgiving God has provided the means
by which our evil deeds can be forgiven
and wiped away into oblivion. But there is no way for our good deeds ever to be lost
or forgotten by God.

Preparation for death is important. If we never allow ourselves to think about death, it surely must come upon us with an enormity almost beyond endurance.

If we have given some thought, however difficult, to the possibility -- indeed
the certainty -- of our own death, however difficult -- indeed the actuality of our own death, we will certainly be better able
to cope, since we will have taken some preparatory steps along the path
of preparedness.

Total readiness and total acceptance of death are surely hard to achieve, since death
is the antithesis of living, the state
in which we exist.

Yet, having lived a full life, we should find ourselves increasingly ready for something more -- the newer, greater existence for which God has created us, and for which we yearn evermore as our experience of life diminishes in its attractiveness and our awareness of God grows in its imminence.

Calm preparation for death includes:

* The orderly conclusion of our physical lives: wills, disposition of property, expressing thanks, providing for those we leave, forgiving injury, undoing wrong.

* The turning of our attention toward eternal things and values.

* Increasing our focus on God, and deepening our relationship with God through daily prayers and meditations.

* Taking the opportunity to show by example our faith, love and trust in God.

--DBM -1989

DYING

From Newsweek, remarks by AIDS victims shortly before their death.

"God gave me a wonderful life."

"Life doesn't stop here."

people gave me strength and courage."

I always had a good life."

Death must be as beautiful as a garden full of flowers."

"It's time now. I'm going to a better place."

"Where there is love, there is no death."

"It takes getting in touch with mortality to appreciate life."

"This is a fact of life. Forget the tears."

"I'm looking at both life and death as an adventure."

"I feel very calm in letting go like this with dignity."

"Death is another door. Life is a door; death is a door."

"Bill: If you should go before me, walk slowly down the ways of death, well-worn and wide, for I would want to overtake you quickly and seek the journey's ending by your side. I would be so forlorn not to descry you down some shining highroad when I came. Walk slowly love, and often look behind you; and pause to hear if someone calls you name." Stephen, Community Center Newsletter, 1989

"I wish that I had lived with a shred of dignity." Bill Fitzmaurice - 1987

"I with that I had been more generous to other people." Art Espey - 1988

"Ill do what I can do, and not worry about the rest." Jim Kenner, 1989