I went to a funeral yesterday. One of Christine’s relatives died suddenly over the weekend. The deceased was dearly loved by many, and the loss was a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that loses a loved one.

But as I experienced the outpouring of love for this individual, I found the ceremony uplifting and positive.

Death and loss is a conundrum – a dilemma. While the pain and loss of death is immense, without a limit to our time on earth, our time would have no value and our painful losses remind us to be grateful for what we have now.

These are a few thoughts I had yesterday while reflecting on the loss of life

  • Every moment is precious
  • Ego and materialism are insignificant in the face of death
  • Question the meaning of your life
  • As long as you have one more moment, you can make a difference
  • This isn’t about me, it’s about all the people I touch along the way
  • The faith and courage with which some people face death is a testimony to the human spirit

Aurelius Marcus, believed by many to be the wisest and most tolerant emperor of Rome wrote the following about facing death:

You have embarked, you have made the voyage, you have come to the shore: get out.

You have existed as a part. You shall disappear in that which produced you; or rather, you shall be received back into its seminal principle by transmutation.

Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end your journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.

Every part of me will be reduced by change into some part of the universe, and that again will change into another part of the universe, and so on forever.

And by consequence of such a change I too exist, and those who begot me, and so on forever in the other direction.

- Aurelius Marcus