Rescue Journal

the natural sadness at end of life.

Carol  ·  Jun. 16, 2016

three deaths in four days is tough.
the thing about rescue is...there are some things we don't get to decide.

because here is THE thing...
life is precious, life begins and at some point, it actually ends.
none of us are immortals.
and it is our own mortality that connects all living creatures together.

and this is what i don't understand...
someone goes into a club and kills 50 people, then kills himself.
51 dead people..for what?
all it did was create more fear, anger, pain and sadness in a fearful, angry, painful and sad world.

this is nothing new..mankind's utter brutality, mankind's scornful view of life has been visible since we first walked on this planet. never in our entire evolution have we as a species been universally gentle and kind.
we just see it more frequently now because of technology...we don't just see our families, neighbors, communities...we can see the whole and entire human world.

we think that death ends our problems. but death is our problem.
it wasn't meant to be a statement or a solution.
death was meant to be the end of a life lived in full.
and death was meant to be beyond our control too.

three deaths here in four days...and all of them died because their bodies said their living was done.
no acts of violence, no twisted shock and awe statements to shake the world, no evil against innocence...simply the door to life closing and their walking thru.

if we can't respect and value life, then death becomes a monster.
but the death of life is really not monsterous....it is natural, it is real and for all of us one of our most eventual inescapable truths.

our monsters are in the living..the abject cruelty that occurs a million times in every day.

saints deaths occur in kindness, in caring, in hopeful repairing of some of the unnecessary tragedy in life.
and while we have no control over ultimate death..we have control over how we participate in death and in life.

the sadness we feel when 3 of ours passes is a gentle and natural sadness..it is not the deep and agonizing sadness of the violently wasted gift of life that is so prevalent in our world.

mankind...
man. kind.

man kind
mankind.
we can do it, every day...until death comes for us too.
it is the choice we all can make.

Comments

carol A

Amen. Amen. Amen.
to do our best with what we are given.
to shine a light in the darkness.
To comfort those who are in pain and alone.
To lift those who have fallen.
to strive to do no harm,
and to live with love and compassion, gratitude And appreciation.
very insightful post, Carol. Thank you for your words.