A dear lady passed away this weekend. Unexpected although she was unwell. On Thursday she sent me a funny video and I sent her laughing faces not making the time to write the words in my mind. “Thank you for making me laugh and being such an encouragement despite your own trials. You are such a blessing to me.”
The strange feeling of not being able to speak to someone anymore. The way death seperates you. It is a shock. It also makes you think of being alive. You are alive but able to die. A fact easily forgotten. It’s like getting a cold and being sick. You forget how horrible it can be but it can happen to anyone.
In the light of having a set number of days one wonders why you don’t fully live them to the full. Why waste hours and energy on inconsequential stuff. It comes back to realizing the value of your life and days. Its value is measured in what lasts eternally.
And ultimately it is found in giving not receiving. That encouraging word to another person. That attention given to a child’s chatter. That money sent to help someone else. That patience exerted when you wanted to snap at someone.
It also makes you evaluate whether things are worth worrying about or focusing on. A lot of the times it isn’t. Not in the light of whether it would matter once you are dead.
The things that would matter those are the ones to value. The people in your life.
Clara Berge 