"For behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all not fall asleep but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet..."
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
We had this reading for the Feast of All Souls and I was able to spend some time pondering it yesterday. Our homily was based on it, too, so I really had much to pray with yesterday. Death is inevitable and a mystery. Nothing really new there, but how do we feel about death, exactly? Are we afraid of it? In denial? Looking forward to it? I realized that I am not so much afraid of death as I am the dying process, the diminishment, the relying on others, the bother to the kids. I want to be "me" as long as I can and as long as that can be, I want to stick around. Basically, I don't want to wear out my welcome here on earth. As my mother always said, "Leave the party while you're still having a good time." I think the actual death itself should be a wonderful letting go, falling in the arms of Jesus, seeing loved ones gone before, a lovely long nap. So, all that figured out, what do we do in the meantime? Live our lives, not with selfishness or vainglory, as St. Paul tells us and the Philippians in today's first reading (Philippians 2:1-4). Living our lives with real purpose and meaningfully seems like the answer. Don't let worrying about the end keep us from really living in love with God today! Blessings on your new week and new month! Love, heidi
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