Chapter 5: Questions That Come With Pain
You are alive, and that is amazing! Seriously, take it all in; you are alive right now. Praise God! To our modern surprise, those who went before us - from the medievals to the Puritans - would enhance their living by meditating on their death. This practice is called Memento Mori (Latin for "remember that you have to die"). The objective of pondering one's limitations and guaranteed death is to build awareness of the precious relationships we have in our lives, which are divinely given. “A means to help us live, love, and worship more intensely in the present is to think about dying”
Kapic writes, "Historically, such heavenly mindedness was not meant to belittle this world but to value it, and to encourage the keeping of short accounts and always living in the present. You shouldn't hold a grudge or harbor hostility because you never know if you might die without making things right." Wow, right? A means to help us live, love, and worship more intensely in the present is to think about dying - it sounds backward, but maybe our forebears knew something we have overlooked. Do you receive each day as a gift? If not, perhaps it would be good to remember that it could be your last - so live like it.