Death and Life

This past night the former volunteers left us, but we also had a loss of someone close to us. One of our Ecuadorian friends lost a family member last night. We all have been somber today, keeping this in our thoughts and prayers. It´s been a little difficult for me. I remember when I lost my mom. It was the hardest thing I´ve ever had to go through. I feel for our friend, and I want to be there for her as much as I can.

Death is a funny thing. Everyone talks about it and is slightly sensitized to it depending on the culture you´re from or whether you grew up watching R-rated movies. It seems like sometimes death is even a little bit of a joke: we don´t realize the gravity of what it means. It means someone has lost a parent, or a cousin, an uncle, or an aunt, a grandparent, for a friend. It´s also seen as a very individual thing: many songs are written with lyrics like everyone dies alone, etc. We don´t see what death really is, and in that way we lose ourselves and concentrate on living as an individual. One body is put into the ground, one casket, one vault to keep any lingering of that person from eminating.

Yet death can bring people together in ways that no one can understand. It can bring people foward who one knew never cared, or who are torn apart by selfish motives. It can strengthen a community of people and teach everyone what love really means. It can show the world around just how much life people can have in the face of adversity. In short, death is something that shows the world how much we can be alive, how much humanity can feel for each other and be one. It´s much like a Chirstian community, who are united by the death of Christ. We are all united by death, because death brings new life to us, wherever we are.

So say a prayer for our Ecuadorian friend, and please keep all of us in your prayers today. And remember how much life you have, even though death is still present in the world. It comes for all of us, but life can be eternal if you want it to be, even over death.