Saturday, July 04, 2009

It Is Not Death That A Man Should Fear...

A few days ago, I went to a funeral of someone at church who was a family friend. I didn’t know him that well, but for some reason while I was there, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t expecting to cry so much, but boy did I. It was a wonderful service with very many touching and tender moments. I’ve only been to two other funerals in my life. One was my great grandfather’s when I was about 6, so I don’t remember it at all. The other was my great grandmother when I was a little older, and while I do remember crying and seeing her, I don’t remember the service.

Ok, back to the story. What I loved most about the funeral (believe me, I know how odd and awkward that is to say) was feeling the spirit and feeling a sense of hope. What am I talking about? I mean that although we were honoring someone that lived a good life and unfortunately was no longer with us, we were still here to carry on and live. My favorite belief that I have through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the knowledge that death is not the end. That after this life we continue on to the spirit world where we give service to others there.

But while we can take comfort in the fact that our loved ones who have passed on just happen to be somewhere else, it still leaves us in the lives we are living now. Attending the funeral helped me get a perspective and a different take on my own life. I heard all of the friends and family of the one who passed saying all of these wonderful things he accomplished and how he impacted the lives of everyone in attendance and then some, and it made me wonder what people would say about me and my life and more of what would I want them to say. Am I living the life that would have people say what I would want them to say when I passed?

Are we living the kind of life that has an impact (hopefully positively) on our friends, family, and others around us? I think we try to avoid thinking about death, mainly because we are so scared of things we don’t know about. But I think sometimes it’s good to remember (not dwell on it, mind you) to remind us every now and again that we need to live our lives the best we can because we might not be here for as long as we think.

It was a good chance for me to reevaluate my life. When I pass (and I’m hoping it will be many many years down the road), I want people to say good things about me, that I was a positive influence in their life, and that my life was something meaningful. Well, if that’s how I want it to be, I need to make sure that I’m living that way for that to happen.

So, my question for you is, what do you want people to say about you at your funeral? Are you living your life so people will say that? If not, change it so they will.

OH, and in case you were wondering, the partial quote that is the blog post title is from Marcus Aurelius: "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

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