Let me begin this writing with a question for you: “What activity, music, image, etc., that you get up to always reminds you of your mortality?”
One reminder for me is digging in the dirt. Whenever I take a pickaxe or shovel in hand, thoughts of returning to the earth inevitably come. As a child, I remember the sense of discovery I felt when digging for worms to go fishing. Later, I helped my uncle dig fence posts for his property, and even later, I helped the men of our community dig graves for families in grief.
At any rate, digging in the dirt consistently makes me ponder the idea that I am dirt and that to dirt I shall return. We are all composed of the exact same minerals that make up the mountains, valleys, volcanoes, and oceans.
You can probably tell I had a project on the go this summer. I certainly did! I had to dig a hole about 6 feet deep and five feet wide to install a new entrance to my basement. Digging wasn’t a huge deal; I had a friend with a small backhoe help me. Now that I have installed the doorway, I have to fill in the hole by hand.
Every shovelful is a reminder to me, and to be honest, the older I get, the harder it is to do this kind of work, and the more real to me is the “ticking of life’s clock…”
I am okay with that, but I remain deeply troubled by the fact that people throughout the world are being violently forced, hour by hour, to confront their own mortality every day. They do not have the luxury of meditating, praying, and moving on to a full day.
I can talk to my Creator, take what I can for inspiration, and happily enjoy the hours of my day.
So, when I dig, I think not only of my own mortality but also of the mortality of people all around the world who must suffer from earthquakes, fires, famine, and political oppression. I pray for them and realize that, as one who claims to walk in a spiritual relationship with the Creator, I am not worthy of a better life or situation, but certainly blessed by one.
I know I must pay attention to my blessings and be thankful for them by acting as a partner with God to improve, heal, repair relationships, and fix society and the environment.
I must, if there is any integrity in me, support charity in sacrificial ways, actively support equity, call for justice, and walk in ways of compassion and selfless acts of care towards family, neighbour, and stranger.
God help us all truly come to believe and live in the conviction that every human being possesses inherent worth because they are made in the image of the Creator.
Let me end this writing with a question for you: “What activity, music, image, etc., that you get up to always reminds you of your mortality?”