Had a church meeting tonight to talk about our future. It was interesting to talk about the future or lack of future with my congregation in light of what is going on with my brother. I heard some of them saying that it is not enough for them to just exist but instead they want to thrive. I wonder do they have a choice? End of life issues are hard. When do you stop fighting? Is it important to say goodbye well? What exactly is dieing with dignity? Is there such a thing? How do you know you are not giving up too soon? It really is the after that is scary, the unknown. How do we get past the fear? Life is hard.
Drinks with friends after the meeting. Well, alright, a drink with friends. Beautiful people full of joy. One who just got engaged. In the midst of ends it is good to be around beginnings.
Going to bed. Will get up again tomorrow to try and function in the midst of the fear, and sadness, and chaos.
One more day until Harry Potter!
1 comment:
Great that you tied "end of life" issues to your church's questions. But here's the thing: I think that if one person wants to live then they will live. I think that as long as the Spirit is breathing life into the body, they will live. It's when the spirit/breath leaves that death is immanent. I heard a story about a church who had 3 people -- 3 old ladies actually. And they, like you, had an endowment. Rather than sit and wait to die, they decided to let their church life live on by giving away money. Weekly they met in one of their homes sans pastor and looked at their community to see how they could help in the best way. They lived. And even after they all died, their gifts to the community are still living. Sometimes we just have to reframe what LIFE looks like. It certainly looks differently for me than for my 97 year old parishioner or for my 6 year old daughter or for the husband of the lady suffering with Alzheimers. We live in different ways and all are authentic. We are the only ones who can make our BEST decision about living and dying. IMHO
(((HUGS)))
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