Hard Times
There's no denying it: the next couple of weeks are going to be terribly hard.
Terri Schiavo was brutally murdered by a fickle husband, a corrupt lawyer, and a power-mad judge.
Pope John Paul II, one of the most influential Popes in 300 years, is on his death bed.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco is on life support, and not expected to recover from heart and kidney failure, and respiratory problems.
At the same time, the Christian world just celebrated Easter, the joyous victory of life over death, and the promise of redemtion from sin and the resurection to a new life with Christ.
All life is precious, as only life can begat more life. To kill someone, or something, just to do away with it, is a failure of God's most demanding role given to man, to have stewardship over the Earth. Yet death is the ultimate fate of all things, from mortal man to the sun itself that provides the light and warmth that is essential for life to exist.
I mourn for the death of Terri Schiavo, because it was unnecessary and uncalled for. I mourn for the impending death of Pope John Paul II for the loss of his wisdom. I mourn for the impending death of Prince Rainier III, who entertained us by marrying one of the most glamourous women in Hollywood, and proving that a midwestern American could be as royal as any European blue-blood.
I also mourn the loss of these good people, because it reminds me of the loss of my own parents over the last fifteen years, and the knowledge that I will lose more friends and family in the near future. Death may be a victory over pain and suffering for those that experience it, but it's a loss of friendship, love, and wisdom to the rest of us.
Each death, too, reminds me of my own mortality. I know that I, too, will die someday. What gift could I leave behind that would ease the sorrow of those that mourn at my death? What contribution can I make to those I touch that would make my passing less sorrowful? There is only one gift, one contribution, that I can imagine would make death less sorrowful, and that is to live each day following the admonition of Jesus: "that ye love one another, even as I have loved you".
Terri Schiavo was brutally murdered by a fickle husband, a corrupt lawyer, and a power-mad judge.
Pope John Paul II, one of the most influential Popes in 300 years, is on his death bed.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco is on life support, and not expected to recover from heart and kidney failure, and respiratory problems.
At the same time, the Christian world just celebrated Easter, the joyous victory of life over death, and the promise of redemtion from sin and the resurection to a new life with Christ.
All life is precious, as only life can begat more life. To kill someone, or something, just to do away with it, is a failure of God's most demanding role given to man, to have stewardship over the Earth. Yet death is the ultimate fate of all things, from mortal man to the sun itself that provides the light and warmth that is essential for life to exist.
I mourn for the death of Terri Schiavo, because it was unnecessary and uncalled for. I mourn for the impending death of Pope John Paul II for the loss of his wisdom. I mourn for the impending death of Prince Rainier III, who entertained us by marrying one of the most glamourous women in Hollywood, and proving that a midwestern American could be as royal as any European blue-blood.
I also mourn the loss of these good people, because it reminds me of the loss of my own parents over the last fifteen years, and the knowledge that I will lose more friends and family in the near future. Death may be a victory over pain and suffering for those that experience it, but it's a loss of friendship, love, and wisdom to the rest of us.
Each death, too, reminds me of my own mortality. I know that I, too, will die someday. What gift could I leave behind that would ease the sorrow of those that mourn at my death? What contribution can I make to those I touch that would make my passing less sorrowful? There is only one gift, one contribution, that I can imagine would make death less sorrowful, and that is to live each day following the admonition of Jesus: "that ye love one another, even as I have loved you".
posted by Old Patriot | 1:06 PM
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