This particular idea has been on my heart for a few weeks but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write it! Mostly, it started in my fantastic & absurd literature course. We were reading this book called Death With Interruptions by Jose Saramago (it's a terrific read). The premise is that death (a woman who spells her name with a lowercase 'd') decides she wants to take Death (the actual event of dying) away so that people learn to appreciate what it means to die and not fear or detest her for taking their lives. In the novel, a society of people has to learn how to deal with people who are injured, sick, or dying - none of whom can actually pass to the next life. When death returns from her experiment, she apologizes for the uproar she causes, and as repayment, vows that she will send everyone a letter one week before their death so that they may have time to get their affairs in order.
It begged the question, would we want a letter a week before our death - essentially, would we want to know we only had one week left? Overwhelmingly, my discussion group said "yes". The reasoning was so that they could say their goodbyes, make amends with enemies, and let bygones be bygones with everyone in their life. The idea got me thinking about a country song my mom and I used to listen to when I was younger; the lyrics talk about a man who urges another man to live each day like he were dying - to skydive and climb mountains and do fun things. The last lyric of the chorus is "I gave forgiveness I'd been denying...someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dyin'".
To my group, I said, "This all sounds good in theory, but the reality is, we are all dying right now and we know it, but we aren't doing any of these things. Why would a time limit change us?" I understand why a set number of days would change the hearts, but after a lot of meditation on this, I can't help but wonder why wait until you are dying to make peace with your life and the people in it? I want to be able to lead a life that is the best I can be and do all the time. I want to live in such a way that if someone told me I only had a few months, weeks, or days left, I would not have to, or want to, change to thing. It may be a little cliche that the best I can come up with is to tell the people you love that you love them daily, and to forgive people who have done you wrong because, after all, we all make mistakes, and to thank God for all days, even the bad ones, because we learn something from all of them and He gave them to us with a purpose. It may be cliche, but personally, I still find myself forgetting to do those things that seem so simple in theory. I want to be at peace with the life I am living.
I think that with Lent ending and Easter just a two days away, my goal is going to be that I am aware of Jesus' Resurrection and presence in the world I live in right now, not just the one He rose in 2000 years ago, and to emulate that peace in my life.
Romans 12:18 "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."
