Tags
death, Ladislau Boros, life, light, obituaries, psalm 27, salvation, The Mystery of Death, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom School
For some reason today I turned my morning ritual upside down and began by reading the local obituaries at the beginning rather than at the end of my usual routine. That meant that the lectionary readings came later and led to this moment of reflection – an interesting interpolation that turned into what now seems like a unified whole. There was great variety in those obituaries, particularly of the life spans of the deceased. I often pause when I come across people in their early 70s now and wondered this morning when I read about the life of a woman who was 83 whether I would still be reading such things a dozen years from now.
That may sound rather morbid but it really is not. It’s a practice that first lets me know if there are any cards to send or funerals I ought to attend and secondly, to consider the deeper questions of life and death for at least a few minutes. I suppose it has something to do today with the fact that I was reading my notes yesterday from a Wisdom School based on the book, The Mystery of Death, by Ladislaus Boros. There are lots of meaningful quotes in that book, but that’s for another day. Today I am taken by the theme of light, shining out from each of the readings. Here is my favorite, from Psalm 27:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”
One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…Wait for the Lord with courage, be stouthearted and wait for the the Lord.”
