Remember Your Death

Yesterday, on the way to work, I found myself following a funeral procession. We traveled slowly, escorted by police with flashing lights, for many miles, until my own journey took me in a different direction from the mourners'.

I was glad I was in no hurry, and prayed for these people as I journeyed with them for a short while. I wondered how many others, caught in the traffic like I was, might be angry about the delay. Our focus is too easily spent on the activities of the day to come, rather than on the reality of the day of death.

I have two books on my table (among others, of course). For our Lenten Study at Keswick Ridge United Church, we are reading Marcus Borg's Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. This week's chapter is "Reading Israel's Wisdom Again." The book is a challenge, but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I was impressed by Borg's comments about the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, which reads depressingly of the futility of life. Borg, however, has a different take on it. He compares the writer of Ecclesiastes to Lao-tzu, who wrote the Tao te Ching (p. 168). This book is also on my table, for meditational reading over breakfast.

Comparing the two, Borg writes (p. 169) of Ecclesiastes 12:1:

"'Remember your grave in the days of your youth.' This injunction reflects not a melancholic, pessimistic attitude that robs even youth of its joy, but the belief that the awareness of death teaches us about what is important in life. Death is the teacher of true wisdom."

Such were my thoughts as I followed the mourners down the highway and through the streets of Fredericton. In our society, we try to hide from death, and some probably were indeed angry at the delay of traffic. Yet in that delay, in that reminder of death, we can remember what is truly important. Life is short. Enjoy the moment. Slow down. Relax.

"I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. Moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil " (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).