OT: A favorite passage of mine. . .

Those of you who have been around here a while know that I am not a formally religious person. I send positive thoughts and wish all the best in times of suffering. I was raised in a pretty guilt ridden, stiffling religious "training" and it just didn't take very well.

 So tho I don't deny that there is a "God" I certainly don't hold to any specific religious view. I'm more spiritual than religious and I don't have that certainty of a life in the beyond. It would be comforting if I did but I just don't try as I might.

Don't feel sorry for me. I get my comfort in living my daily life the best that I can, not waiting for the "reward" at the end of my days here on earth.

Why am I plastering my private thoughts here I am not sure but it leads me to what I wanted to post.

I take great comfort in the following essay or poem. Not sure where it fits but it seems suitable for Cindy P right now and for Debbie Jean and Carla. . . . If we become close to someone we WILL feel sorrow when they go from this life. . . . Regardless of our spiritality or lack of.

Not posting this to get anything going. I believe so much in "Live and let live." I respect other's beliefs and I hope they will respect mine.

 So here it is. I'm sure many of you know of it already.

A Parable of Immortality

   By Henry Van Dyke

"I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.  She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a spec of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.  Then someone at my side says, "There she goes!'

Gone where? Gone from my sight. . .that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of lviing freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, 'There she goes!' there are other eyes watching her coming and their voices ready to take up the glad shoutis 'Here she comes!'

May this bring comfort to those who are filled with sorrow this morning.

Karen:

Hospice gave us reading materials when they started helping mom. This was in those materials. It is helpful. Thank you for posting it and sharing it with all those who might benefit from it at this time.

Cindy P.

Hi Karen,
My beliefs are very close to what you describe, The quote is beautiful. One thing that I know is that I felt the moment that my brother left his body and I felt him in me looking from my eyes about a half hour later. It was quite spiritual but eerie and heartbreaking for me also. I didn't know that he was dying at that hour or I would have stayed with him. It took a couple of hours to confirm that he had died after I left- but I knew. I'm so sorry for the losses that our group has incurred of late. Saying goodbye to a loved one is the hardest thing we ever face.
Julia

The day before my mom went to sleep for the last time. . she slept peacefully for almost 24 hours with no pain meds before she stopped breathing. . . anyway, about 12 hours before this long sleep she kind of looked right through us. She talked about Ray, her twin, being right behind me. . . like you said eerie but comforting also. The day we got the phone call 20 years before that her twin had died, Mom knew who it was before anyone said anything about who was on the phone. She said, "It's Ray isn't it?" I was there and heard her. She died one day before the 20 yr anniversary of his death.

I am with you, Karen--I don't believe in any brand of religious dogma, but I am a very spiritual person.