Marv and Nancy Hiles, the "keepers" of the Iona Center in Healdsburg, CA, publish a journal called The Way Through. In their most recent issue (Spring-Summer 2009), I enjoyed reading the following piece by Marv entitled "Living Giving Dying":
"Walking across the sticky surface of aging the other day, I stopped in my tracks and remembered some rather traditional advice about growing older and dying. Its argument is that since we have been given life, we should consciously offer it back little by little. This is straightforward, and all it requires is an attitude of gratitude while giving back what has been given us so abundantly. It echoes the words of the Bible that say, 'Freely you have received, freely give.' Furthermore, it is only fair to move over and make room so the next generation can experience life as pure gift. It is all about conscious aging and dying. To "offer back" and to "make room" are things I can do consciously in the heat and chills of this mostly slow dissolution. Mary Morrison's wonderful little book Let Evening Come is as clear and warm as one can read about the generosity of spirit that can follow us from all our days and henceforward."
In this time when our whole nation is a-buzz with a discourse around end-of-life care issues, it seems important to remember that our lives, in the end, are a mysterious gift. Last Sunday I helped facilitate a memorial service. During the service I used a prayer that shares the following: "We enter into life in a mystery and leave it in a mystery. Through all our days we are upheld by a power we do not fully understand. Joy comes to us beyond our expectation, and difficulty beyond our imagining. Teach us the faith that, if we persist, we shall know the truth and be glad of life through all our days. ... Turn our eyes and hearts again to the world of the living, ... to a life of sympathy and generosity for ALL who live and grow and die, ..."
Here's to a "generosity of spirit" to each one of us, as we live, grow (change!), and die. May we deeply give love, receive love, and share love -- while we are in the Land of the Living.
Deep Joy and Generous Love to each of you, Dancing heart~~~
p.s. If you are interested in the end-of-life discussion that's going on in our country, I invite you to have a look at some of my recent articles on Examiner.com as the Transitions & Grief Examiner.
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