Well put. One has to live mindfully, because life (as they say) isn't a rehearsal. And it is precious, even with the sorrow.
Posted by nyc at June 12, 2009 01:10 PMLife is not a rehearsal.
I like that.
My wife is right now struggling with some of the issues touched on in this post. She is having trouble letting go of her attachment to Christianity because she feels a need for a sense that there is something bigger than each of us all as individuals. Some larger purpose to life than simply existing. Something that ties us all together and she fears that if she lets go of her Christian faith she will lose that. She's been looking toward Buddhaism to fill the gap.
Personally, I'm perfectly at peace with the fact that we all share one ultimate final destination in this life, death. This is it. A play in one act. One performance only.
I was just reading in a book by Natalie Angier an anacdote on the laws of thermodynamics that relates the conservation of energy to the concept of eternal life. The universe, as far as we know, is a closed system. All that is has been and will forever be. No new energy added. None taken away. It may shift from form to form but the sum total will always be the same. That being the case our deaths do not constitute a finality. Upon our deaths our matter, and the energy that conprises us, simply reenter circulation in the universe. What was us goes on simply in a different form for eternity. No worse for the wear having spent any length of time as part of a human frame.
Posted by snark at June 12, 2009 02:17 PM?tell us, troll...
since 9/11, how many american citizens have been murdered by muslims? how many by white wingnuts such as yourself?
Posted by Turkana at June 10, 2009 05:47 PM"
From what I read, he's a Bush hating, September 11th skeptic. That's all I'm going to respond to about this loser.
Sorry Turkana, I've been away on vacation. I even slept in Bill Clinton's birth place and ate in Obama's home town pizza place, they're very upset that he got that guy from Pi's in St. Louis to make pizza for him in the WH.
I'm glad you found that nurse to help you in your time of need. There are many beautiful people out there, you only have to look for them, or be open for their ministering.
Posted by peter at June 12, 2009 08:12 PMWhat a wonderful piece. Thank you.
Posted by Mary at June 13, 2009 01:05 AMA slightly different, but I think harmonious, take on the theme. When I was diagnosed with Parkinson's to go along with my heart disease and emphysema following multiple strokes, the practice of thinking outside of "self" proved its value. Things are just things; "good" and "bad" are but labels, value judgements that we apply to those things based on how those things affect us. When I can view things without looking through the lens of "self" then the terms "good" and "bad" cease to have any meaning.
Posted by Bill H at June 13, 2009 07:01 AMSnark, I also struggle at times with whether or not I believe in some kind of higher power and I've heard the energy theory (for lack of a better term) that you describe and I like it.
As for an afterlife, there's a line in an episode of House that really resonates with me. Asked if he believes in an afterlife, House replies that he doesn't. Someone asks "it really makes you feel better to believe that this is all there is?" He answers "it makes me feel better to believe that this isn't just a test." As a Jew (we don't really have much to say doctrinally about an afterlife--this life is what we focus on--I really liked that. So, it's not simply existing. It's existing in a way that is good. To do good in this world. To be a good person. You don't need a god or an afterlife to do that.
I also like the Buddhist idea of conscious suffering. I lost my mother recently. My father told me he still can't get through the day without crying. I told him that's ok, there's no hurry and he said "you're right. I know." He's doing pretty well. Accepting invitations to dinner and things like that. But I think he's really allowing himself to grieve and not trying to be done with it too fast. I think that's good. And for me, I just cry sometimes and I don't worry about it.
Posted by CG at June 13, 2009 07:08 AMsnark at June 12, 2009 02:17 PM:
My wife is right now struggling with some of the issues touched on in this post. She is having trouble letting go of her attachment to Christianity because she feels a need for a sense that there is something bigger than each of us all as individuals. Some larger purpose to life than simply existing. Something that ties us all together and she fears that if she lets go of her Christian faith she will lose that. She's been looking toward Buddhaism to fill the gap.As a suggestion, your wife might be interested in Sam Harris' work. Yes, he's known as one of the prominent New Atheists, but Harris has a flair for transcendent thought and meditation. Indeed, much of his work involves a philosophy in which human beings need not abandon their sense of the transcendent when they abandon the irrationalities of one religion or another.
Julia Sweeney also has a very funny one-woman act called Letting Go of God, where she traces her own path from Catholic to atheist, and the many stops she made along the way. It's quite life-affirming for anyone "letting go" of Christianity.
Great post, Turkana. It's always struck me as curious that people wonder "Why me?" far more often when bad things happen to them than when good things do. There is no "why," not in the normative, conscious sense we seek. Things just happen. We, as sentient beings, can determine how we respond to them ourselves.
:)
"To recognize that nature has neither a preference for our species nor a bias against it takes only a little courage."
-----James Randi
"If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal."
-----Carl Sagan
My son passed away 7 mo. ago after a 3 yr battle with cancer and a year and a half after a bone marrow transplant. The loss of this wonderfully, gentle soul has been the most difficult thing I have ever had to endure. I was proud to be his mom for 40 years and appreciated reading "Conscious Suffering". I, for one could not put one foot in front of the other if it were not for my faith in God and the promise of eternal life. I am a liberal and believe everyone has a right to their beliefs....including me.
Posted by judy at June 14, 2009 11:48 AM