On Death, Dying and mostly Living...

 

 

"The art of living well and the art of dying well are one"

Epicurus

It was just after dawn at a early Sunday morning service. The pastor, who had been pastor for more years than many would care to remember, came to the pulpit. As he usually did most Sundays before he began the sermon, he cleared his throat. He then began the morning message using a traditional monotone voice. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, I have some news to share with you. I am dying". Once this bombshell was unleashed, there was a quiet, still hush which fell over the sanctuary. The congregation could not believe what they had heard. The pastor continued, "Please don't be alarmed folks- you too, are also dying".

The pastor went on as this was the message he did not want one person to miss it. "We start to die the moment we are born. Our cells die and are replaced by new ones. Every year our bodies get a little more worn and a little more worn out. Soon we get to the point where the new cells that replace the old ones just don't work as well. However, my brethren, please receive this - even though we start the process of dying at birth, we also are blessed by this gift called life. And that gift is ours to use, and we must use it well".

The words of the pastor made me think back many years ago. A wise man I worked for in the seventies told me as one ages, the body conditions itself for death. This was strange talk for me to hear. I was in my late twenties and he had just turned fifty-five. He had been through World War II and Korea and knew about danger, death, and dying. However even with these events in his background, he never really thought about death until he turned fifty. He then realized his number of his tomorrows would be less than the number of his yesterdays. He was right. He was saying the same thing the pastor said, only in a different way.

Do I agree that we start to die the moment we are born? Absolutely. If we accept that, we know the exact moment we begin to die. However, none of us know the exact moment of our actual death. This is known by God alone. What we are in charge of is simple - how we extract as much living as possible from the process of dying. That we can do until life is no longer possible. My former boss understood that simple fact. He knew even though our days are numbered, each one of those days can mean something very, very special. When he said the body conditions itself for death, it was not to fear death - rather it was to ensure that each day, every day, to seize that gift and utilize it to the fullest.

So what do we do with this thing called life? This gift, which so many of us (myself included) take for granted? To start with, we think of the poem by Horace when he told us to seize the day" (Carpe Diem). This was a term we all became accustomed to in the Robin Williams film Dead Poets Society. Our mission goes on. Our job goes on. Our purpose may change, our purpose will change, but it too goes on. Each day, every day, we will seize the day. Carpe Diem!