Onward to HERE … (06/18/16)
(or “Letting Go of Loss”)
Often when we lose a dear Friend, we tend to get lost in the not-Now … to pine for what was, or to long for things to one day “get better”. And yet, though these are both fully normal and even quite natural responses to such suffering, it might be a fine thing indeed to remember another way in those moments — to re-member our Way back to Here.
You see, pining for what was and longing for what could be are both innately rejections of what IS, and it is the rejecting of what IS that creates almost all of our suffering AND that prevents us from mitigating the suffering of others.
Now this Truth doesn’t mean that we are to avoid remembering what was — as long as we choose to do so to learn from those times without longing to return there … And this Truth doesn’t mean that we don’t have visions or dreams or even loosely defined goals for the future — as long as we embrace those visions as mere guideposts for our Here&Now; as long as we let them mold our current choices without yearning to soon arrive at their mythical destinations.
In short, my Friends, whenever we are going through a time of loss — be it intense mourning, agitated healing, or mellow remembering, if we are sitting on a bench, we should remember that it is wise to SIT fully & gratefully on that bench … Just as when we see someone nearby in need, we should remember that it is our primary privilege of being still alive that we are allowed to rise from our bench and extend them a Loving Hand & an Open Heart.
This is how we honor those who have passed before us …
This is how we cherish the life that still remains.
Amen … Let it be so.
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