Brother Richard

The journey goes only one way.

And the meditator tries to live in the awareness of death, not in a morbid way, but so as to live every succeeding moment of life to the fullest.

If we really remembered that the next moment is not promised, how would we live this moment?

How would we treat those around us?

How would we touch the earth?

How would we encounter one another?

This is the great gift that lies waiting for us at the end of the canticle of the creatures.

We have descended from the heavens in praising sun and moon and stars, earth, air, fire and water.

We have greeted one another in peace and now the meaning behind it all is revealed.

The last sibling we encounter

will be the one who will gently issue us into the presence of divine love.

And so the meditator sits with their own death, not as something to be afraid of, but as a friendship to be cultivated.

We would not know the richness of life

if we did not know that death awaits us.

This does not mean that we do not mourn or grieve those who pass.

We mourn and grieve those who have passed, but we do not say goodbye.

In our tradition, we can only ever say, until we meet again.

But for now, reflecting on these words of Francis, we can hold as a meditative intention for ourselves the awareness of death leading to the fullness of life.

When I rise in the morning, I can begin with gratitude for another day.

And I can ask myself, how should I live this day so that if Sister Death came calling tonight, I would be ready to go.