A good Friend of mine passed away yesterday morning. His transition came as no surprise, as he had been chronically ill for many months previous, and yet the loss was palpable all the same …

Death is an interesting phenomenon for us humans. It is truly the only inevitability — it is the only thing that is certain about our future, and yet we avoid the thought of its sure & steady approach; we live as though we will never die.

And this makes sense, for if we were to wake up each morning and force ourselves to consciously remember that we are already dying; that today could very well be our last day on Earth; that life is truly as precious as it is fleeting, then we would be equally compelled to live accordingly.

And this would require a great change in how we fill our moments …

If we were to regularly remember our own mortality, we would not only pause every hour to wonder at the immense Beauty that gently enfolds us in every smile & every sunrise, we would also set forth each morning to make that priceless day a Meaning-full one. We would spend a lot more time Caring for others and a lot less time caring about what we have to spend … We would strive to be successful, of course, and yet a truly Success-full day would be one in which we did something Kind for another for which we received nothing in return.

For these are the things that truly matter — these are the memories that will bring others Joy & therefore us, Peace.

Shakespeare once wrote that “Cowards die many deaths …
The valiant taste death but once.” And when I think of this quote, I like the to think that Shakespeare knew what cowardice & courage truly are — that cowardice is not running from a fight, but rather being presented with the opportunity to reach out to a stranger but choosing to look away; that Courage is not going fearlessly into battle, but rather being too tired or too afraid or too busy to reach out to a stranger, but reaching out to them anyway.

I like to think that my Friend had been Brave in this sense. I like to think that he had filled his life with such Meaning-full moments before he lay down for his final rest. I like to think that he could reflect in deep Contentment upon a life truly well-lived.

I knew him as an exceptionally Kind man, and I feel honored to have known him. His life was a beacon of laughter, and yet it is his death that I honor today — a passing that reminds me that my life too is priceless; that I too have only a few days left upon which to make my mark for Goodness; that I too must live today as though it is my last — that I must live today for Love.

Thank you for that, Horst …

(in loving memory of Horst Boss, who passed on yesterday after 79 years of Love & Laughter)

“When the commonplace ‘We must all die’ transforms itself into the acute consciousness ‘I must die–and soon,’ then death grapples us, and his fingers are cruel … Afterwards, he comes to fold us in his arms as our mother did, and our last moment of dim earthly discerning becomes like the first.” ~ George Eliot

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt