A Bahá'í friend of mine died recently of cancer; too young; her daughter only 21 . . .
My first reaction when I got the email was of gratitude that she had been released from this earthly prison and was reunited with her Lord. This was tinged with a bit of envy . . .
I called another friend to tell her and could hardly read the email, I was crying so hard.
What is this thing called grief? And why do we cry when we know we’ll see each other in a twinkling of an eye? When we know she’s in the celestial rose garden?
I haven’t seen her in over 10 years. I moved away. We lost touch. She pioneered to Kuwait. I didn’t feel bad when she pioneered, so why do I cry when she’s pioneered to the ‘Abhá Kingdom?
And I remember 'Abdul-Bahá’s lament to Thomas Breakwell, a man he’d only met a short time before his death. It goes on for pages . . .
Aren’t we lucky to have 'Abdul-Bahá as our Exemplar?!
My first reaction when I got the email was of gratitude that she had been released from this earthly prison and was reunited with her Lord. This was tinged with a bit of envy . . .
I called another friend to tell her and could hardly read the email, I was crying so hard.
What is this thing called grief? And why do we cry when we know we’ll see each other in a twinkling of an eye? When we know she’s in the celestial rose garden?
I haven’t seen her in over 10 years. I moved away. We lost touch. She pioneered to Kuwait. I didn’t feel bad when she pioneered, so why do I cry when she’s pioneered to the ‘Abhá Kingdom?
And I remember 'Abdul-Bahá’s lament to Thomas Breakwell, a man he’d only met a short time before his death. It goes on for pages . . .
Aren’t we lucky to have 'Abdul-Bahá as our Exemplar?!
A friend asked: "How should one look forward to death?" He answered: "How does one look forward to the goal of any journey? With hope and with expectation. It is even so with the end of this earthly journey. In the next world, man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours; their work, the work of the Kingdom, is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call 'time and place.' Time with us is measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.
(‘Abdu'l-Bahá in London, p. 95)
Good Bye, Ellen! I know you’ve been promised a service in both worlds, so if you get a chance, I could sure use your help as I gear up to serve people in my Bahá'í-inspired life coaching endeavor!
What’s helped you get through grief? Post your comments here!
What’s helped you get through grief? Post your comments here!
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3 comments:
I'd read that quote in the past and it's ideas have stuck with me for some time. The idea that we wait with open arms and elated expectation for death, and look at our time to die as a much awaited and worthy conclusion is something that's helped me make sense of a lot of other things in life. Daily it's an easy way to put things into perspective: maintaining relationships, finding meaningful work, trudging through mundane tasks of daily living. It's nice to think when we feel so pressed for time to meet our self-imposed expectations, that one day, that sick panicky feeling will disappear into relief throughout timelessness. Hopefully it'll happen that way, but who can say for sure.
My friend Cheryl said:
After the death of my best friend, my husband, I was devastated.
The only thing that got me from day to day was the knowledge that he is in the rose garden of the Lord, doing what he loved to do, garden. By the way he liked the song "Waiting in a woman." so I know what he and the Lord are doing.
Last night in a dream I saw my beloved Aunt who died about 6 years ago. In the dream, I hugged her so tightly and told her how much I loved her. My tears were streaming down my eyes I was so happy to see her and she hugged me back telling me she was well and happy.
....THere are so many things we don't know about this world and the next and the beautiful world of spirit that is wrapped up in the material world. But dreams such as this tend to remind me that the spirit of our loved ones are truly with us at all times.
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