DEATH AND DYING AND LIFE

This morning our Unitarian Universalist Lead Interim Minister Don Rollins and our Assistant Minister John Saxon gave an extremely thought provoking and emotional sermon. The title of the sermon was Death and Dying for the Uninitiated. The tears began with the opening hymn entitled Just as Long as I have Breath. The words to this hymn are as follows: 


1. Just as long as I have breath, I must answer, "Yes", to life, though with pain I made my way, still with I meet each day. If they ask what I did well, tell them I said, "Yes", to life.
2. Just as long as vision lasts, I must answer, "Yes", to truth; in my dream and in my dark, always: that elusive spark. If they ask what I did well, tell them I said, "Yes," to truth.
3. Just as long as my heart beats, I must answer, "Yes" to love; disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you. If they ask what I did best, tell them I said, "Yes" to love.


As we sang these lyrics my mind went off in different directions and different thought processes. The one that really rang out for me was my Mom and our estrangement from one another and the whole shortness of life and the things that REALLY and TRULY matter in my life and how do I or can I make them "right" or are they just what they are for now.


Later in the service we did our Meditations, Prayers and Reflections. During the time of Reflections Rev Don asked us to call out the names of those folks that had died that we were close to. I called out my Uncle Chuck and Lucky LU...hay, she was my baby girl. 

Also during this time I thought about my Mom and how we use to be. There were times that we would sit for hours on the gazebo and talk about life and things that mattered to us. Then I thought what happened to us? How did we get to this point? Life happened. The more time I spent away from my folks the more I began to think of my childhood and certain circumstances that happened to me at the hands of my step father. Things that I needed to talk about with my mom that she didn't want to hear or that she just wasn't ready to hear. Perhaps she will be ready to talk about them some day and when that day comes I will be there and ready to talk about them with her.

The other thing that came out of our service this morning was all the differences we have with one another.  Everyone has something goin on in their lives. My causes aren't everyone's causes. I tend to forget that. What kind of friend am I to others when all I do is think about what is going on with me, my family life and my "tribe". The anti LGBT/Family amendment is weighing heavy on my mind and my heart right now and is consuming my every other thought. The Republican Politicians and their craziness is also freaking me out a bit...

So somehow I get lost in my own stuff and seem to loose sight of what is going on in other parts of the my life and my world. Suffering of some friends and other family members. Yes we all have our own stuff. But we shouldn't loose sight of others' stuff.

As the song says Say YES to Life, Truth and Love. 


These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.