It's All in How We Die……..and, in How We Live 

There is a truth I have come to accept these past 37 days….

Early on, I wasn't wise enough to understand, then later, I knew its truth but didn't give the respect to this knowledge that it deserved and here lately….specifically, the past 37 days, I have come to adult acceptance of its truth…

I am dying

As sure as I was born in Germany in March of 1962….

I am dying

And, not in those little incremental "way off in the future" deaths which we have when we are young, nor in those larger-life deaths when become adults, but in that, "hey, life is short if you live to be old" moments which come with age….

52

I have been dying for 52 years

Ever since my "Daddy's girl" Mama married my "Military boy" Daddy and they saw fit to hug one another tightly enough in prayer to have God grant them a foreign born baby girl, 

I have been dying

You cannot live without the promise of its counterpart….dying

There is a peace which comes to the heart of a woman who knows she's dying…

There is a sense of right and wrong, happy and sad, holding on and letting go which is brought to clarity in mind's eye when you can say the words,

"I am dying"

Now, lest my siblings confront me with my bent, in their minds, toward dramatic flair…(we are a dramatic family, I kid you not)

I want to assure you

I don't think I am going to take that final sleep this very moment (although that is clearly up to our Creator)

But, what I am understanding during the long, twenty-four hours I spend sitting reading….talking…texting…enjoying the laughter of my family and the quiet of my solitude is...

That there is truth in the statement

I am dying

And, when you have such knowledge so closely held within your daily living…

You become blessed

You become blessed, you are blessed, you will be blessed with this little nugget of knowledge because I believe it is at that nano-moment you get that you are, yes, truly, without fail, going to die that….

You start to really live

Now, I do know folks who are sage and wise and so much more aware for their years than the average you and me….they know this truth early in their life and it makes a difference in how they spend their days…

Jesus…comes quickly to mind

But, also Mother Teresa, Viktor Frankle, Billy Graham, Mary…..

And others not so well known

IY, KK, IY, ER, KB….to list a few

But, for most of us…I think this blessing of knowledge comes later in life

What is special about even the late-bloomers (myself included, I hope), is that even though it takes them a little longer to accept this living/dying truth, they still plant seeds of hope and truth along their ways...

A young boy with blond hair and crazy ideas tells a girl she is precious and she believes him; a sweet girl reminds a life friend that "it'll be okay"; a little girl angel tells all, "I've got the power" and they believe her…even as she lays her head to earthly rest, the power is still standing

Whether you come to this acceptance of live early or late….your steps on the terra ferma of this earth make a difference….

And, you just never know which steps make a difference to which person on which day and to what degree

No life lived is wasted

No death goes un-sorrowed

That homeless man at Hope Center you scooped out eggs to….he was someone's baby

That angry young woman with red hair who spews out vile cursing and then quotes God….she's someone's baby

Those lost on the road who have parents clueless to their where-abouts…they are missed

Even the ugliest hearts have someone's' heart hostage in real and genuine love

Because all who are knitted in a mother's womb are loved….

Truth

As sure as blood courses through a vein is truth….someone is loved, someone will live, someone will die

What counts in our hearts and keeps us small~stepping forward is how we spend our days

Between the dash

Just like the poem (Google it….The Dash)

I have come to appreciate in these past 37 days that there is nothing I can do which really matters but that there is nothing I can do to stop something I do from mattering to someone at some time

Or….in short, while I may not realize what I am doing or saying matters, it may be just the very thing to matter to someone that day 

That is short knowledge which has come to me as I spend time pondering life….and death and dying and birth and living

We don't know

We just don't ever know when something we say or do might just be exactly what another fellow-dying-person might need at just that exact moment

So, in our acceptance that we are dying…we live

And, in our living….we make a difference, whether we know it or not

And, isn't that what makes our life worth living?

Practicing living gives hope to our dying

Because, when we truly do lay down our head on that soft pillow for the final time…

It's what we do with our moments in joyful sharing….in authentic caring….in faithful praying which folks will cling fast to

No one really wants to remember the bad in a life

I don't think

What we want to do for others is the same we want done for us…

Please fellow travelers…lifelong friends…family members…stranger who I gave a quarter to…

Please remember my good

Your good

Dig through your heart spring of life and find a morsel of good in me, in you….so that

My dying…your dying will be a blessing…..

My life…your life will be a gift

Because in this truth, we are all soul-mates

As surely as we are born….all knit tightly in our mother's womb

We will die….

We are dying

So, let's make our dying be our joyful-living one moment at a time…..

Blessings,

Lesa