The Dearest Memories Still Fade
For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
- Ecclesiastes 6:12.
The book of Ecclesiastes is probably the most forthright presentation of the reality of human existence from our temporal perspective. It doesn't sugarcoat life or death. Good and bad things happen to all people whether the righteous or unrighteous by any moral or spiritual standard. Death is the greatest of non-discriminators and his hold over us in this life is ubiquitous.
We love to think that our lives will live on in the memories of others, especially our loved ones. But how quickly those flowers fade too. This is one of the most moving such tokens of remembrance in the graveyard of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hadspen. It is not easy to read (as even the sandstone wears away with time), but it begins with the phrase, "In affectionate remembrance of..."
It remembers the three children of William and Eliza Carter:
"William John, Died July 27, 1866 Aged 10 days
Arthur George, Died Feb 20, 1877 Aged 7 years
Catherine Fanny Kitty, Died July 27 (yes the memorial date of her late baby brother) 1887 Aged 28 years."
That is existential suffering few in our modern era can understand. So those who make fun of people of faith or who believe that the afterlife is a fantasy need to take stock of things themselves. How would you deal with such loss? How would you cope?
Is it really true, as Ecclesiastes says? "All is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3).
The narrator of Ecclesiastes is a man called The Preacher (Kohelet). And so this lesson from life begins a timely sermon. To show what universal wisdom this sentiment is, allow me to quote from the Tibetan Book of the Dead (written more than 13 centuries ago):
O Alas! Alas! Fortunate Child.
Do not be oppressed by the forces of ignorance and delusion!
But rise up now with resolve and courage!
Entranced by ignorance, from beginningless time until now,
You have had more than enough time to sleep.
So do not slumber any longer, but strive after virtue with body, speech and mind!
Are you oblivious to the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death?
There is no guarantee that you will survive, even past this very day!
The time has come for you to develop perseverance in your practice.
For at this singular opportunity, you could attain everlasting life.
So now is certainly not the time to sit idly,
But starting with reflection on death, you should bring your faith and practice to completion.
As the Psalmist often said, "Selah".
Think on these things.
The Dearest Memories Still Fade
For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
- Ecclesiastes 6:12.
The book of Ecclesiastes is probably the most forthright presentation of the reality of human existence from our temporal perspective. It doesn't sugarcoat life or death. Good and bad things happen to all people whether the righteous or unrighteous by any moral or spiritual standard. Death is the greatest of non-discriminators and his hold over us in this life is ubiquitous.
We love to think that our lives will live on in the memories of others, especially our loved ones. But how quickly those flowers fade too. This is one of the most moving such tokens of remembrance in the graveyard of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hadspen. It is not easy to read (as even the sandstone wears away with time), but it begins with the phrase, "In affectionate remembrance of..."
It remembers the three children of William and Eliza Carter:
"William John, Died July 27, 1866 Aged 10 days
Arthur George, Died Feb 20, 1877 Aged 7 years
Catherine Fanny Kitty, Died July 27 (yes the memorial date of her late baby brother) 1887 Aged 28 years."
That is existential suffering few in our modern era can understand. So those who make fun of people of faith or who believe that the afterlife is a fantasy need to take stock of things themselves. How would you deal with such loss? How would you cope?
Is it really true, as Ecclesiastes says? "All is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3).
The narrator of Ecclesiastes is a man called The Preacher (Kohelet). And so this lesson from life begins a timely sermon. To show what universal wisdom this sentiment is, allow me to quote from the Tibetan Book of the Dead (written more than 13 centuries ago):
O Alas! Alas! Fortunate Child.
Do not be oppressed by the forces of ignorance and delusion!
But rise up now with resolve and courage!
Entranced by ignorance, from beginningless time until now,
You have had more than enough time to sleep.
So do not slumber any longer, but strive after virtue with body, speech and mind!
Are you oblivious to the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death?
There is no guarantee that you will survive, even past this very day!
The time has come for you to develop perseverance in your practice.
For at this singular opportunity, you could attain everlasting life.
So now is certainly not the time to sit idly,
But starting with reflection on death, you should bring your faith and practice to completion.
As the Psalmist often said, "Selah".
Think on these things.