“Every moment spent in
unhappiness is a moment of happiness lost.”
It has been a week of difficult news about deaths of people
we knew from previous parishes. A number
of their relatives became friends and as I sat with them via telephone, because
of the distance, a part of me missed being there to participate in the
celebration of these wonderful lives and a selfish part of me was very happy to
be so far away from the difficult deaths.
In the midst of the news of these deaths there were a few
practical things that were in need of doing here, sorting books was high on the
list. Some stayed, some went to the
office and some to a library but in the midst of the sorting I came across a
little treasure that was suggested to me when I did my chaplaincy unit at the
IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, many years ago. This little book, a story for all ages, tells
about the seasons of life from the perspective of a leaf. It is a treasured book. It has been loaned numerous times, lost once
or twice and now never leaves home! (I have a second one for loaning) It was a timely find amongst the books on my
shelves and I took a few minutes to read this metaphor for life once again and
the end of the book, just like the first time I ever read it, still made me
smile.
The story tells the story of life from the perspective of a
leaf and the seasons that one goes through in life. The book reminded me that seasons can be long
or short but despite the timeline that we use to measure the greatness of life,
in terms of years, it is perhaps more fitting to look at how much of an impact
the person made in the lives of others, how they touched people and the gift
they bestowed when they shared of themselves with us for a short time. The book also reminded me as it drew to a
close the in the end is a new beginning for spring would come once again with
new hope and new opportunities. It
reminds us that everyone must die, to not be afraid of death because in that
end is a beginning.
When a death is fresh it is hard to sometimes see the
beginning that is taking place in this end.
It is a new beginning for all who must learn to live without this person
and it is not without pain or fear. So this book that brings me much comfort
reminds me of a lesson learned long ago, death does not discriminate because of
age, health, gender, nationality or faith tradition it is a part of life and
living. It is something that we need to
accept so that we can continue to live and know that in the end there is a new
beginning for everyone.
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