Oh, if you could see it then you'd understand.
An old acquaintance of mine, someone with whom I was friendly, shared some laughs and a few hugs, died on Monday in a motorcycle accident. I can't quite swallow that sad feeling, and yet, I take considerable comfort in the very strong belief that 'shaking off this mortal coil' is just a precursor to an experience that we cannot understand here on Earth.
Some people might think my sentiments are undue, foolish manufacturings to idealize away the cold, harsh reality of death. No, not for me. For me, it is a belief that endures everything that might happen to us during our mortal lives. I don't think the way I do just to shirk off the fact that when people die they become indetectable by our sensory faculties. If we still feel them, how can they be gone in the complete and utter sense that we so often associate with death?
If they are gone, mind, body, soul and all, what accounts for the part of them that remains within us and weathers the sands of time? Memories generally fade, but those which do not - THOSE are the ones that give testament to transcendent nature of people and their souls. I really think they are still 'here' - maybe not in the immediate temporal sense, but in a kind of way that one day we will all realize.
I'd like to think (and indeed, I do) that John Gillespie Magee's poem encapsulates that experience, that one day we will all enjoy.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space...
...put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
It is especially with Chrissy and Andrew's closest friends and family that my heart lies for the next few days.
I'll update another time. It was going to be today, but I changed my mind. I'm in London taking International Politics until the end of June, so I'll be back home then. Really looking forward to seeing everyone again.
More on my recent trip to Ecuador once pictures are in.
-Kev-
Some people might think my sentiments are undue, foolish manufacturings to idealize away the cold, harsh reality of death. No, not for me. For me, it is a belief that endures everything that might happen to us during our mortal lives. I don't think the way I do just to shirk off the fact that when people die they become indetectable by our sensory faculties. If we still feel them, how can they be gone in the complete and utter sense that we so often associate with death?
If they are gone, mind, body, soul and all, what accounts for the part of them that remains within us and weathers the sands of time? Memories generally fade, but those which do not - THOSE are the ones that give testament to transcendent nature of people and their souls. I really think they are still 'here' - maybe not in the immediate temporal sense, but in a kind of way that one day we will all realize.
I'd like to think (and indeed, I do) that John Gillespie Magee's poem encapsulates that experience, that one day we will all enjoy.
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space...
...put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
It is especially with Chrissy and Andrew's closest friends and family that my heart lies for the next few days.
I'll update another time. It was going to be today, but I changed my mind. I'm in London taking International Politics until the end of June, so I'll be back home then. Really looking forward to seeing everyone again.
More on my recent trip to Ecuador once pictures are in.
-Kev-