Do You Dread Death?

We all are going to die.  Do you dread death?  My computer died for 2 days.  Actually my internet connection died for almost 2 days. That was tough for me as I am so connected to the internet for work. But today both are back and alive and well.  Thank goodness.


Tuesday was All Saint's Day.  Yesterday was All Soul's Day.  In Mexico it is Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.  It exists by other names in other nations and cultures.  Graves of love ones are cleaned up and decorated.  Often home altars are created with pictures of your beloved dead, symbols and tokens of their lives.  You might gather and tell stories, even jokes and anecdotes from the lives of those you've lost.  In America we just don't like to think about death.  We often never visit a loved one's grave after a burial.  Henri Nouwen observed that people we love become part of us.  When they die, we feel diminished.  But as we let go of them "they become part of our 'members' and as we 're-member' them, they become our guides on our spiritual journey."  But only if we do remember them at least once a year,  think about them, but/and then get on with our lives.  (Thanks to Bill Tully, Rector at St. Bart's Episcopal Church, New York, NY.)