Terrified of death, cemeteries, skulls, loss of my little personality, as a kid. Frightened of everything, to be accurate. Only funerals, as long as I didn't have to approach the coffin, didn't bother me. Sad, but a chance to meet up with cousins and assorted kin, always wound up laughing.
Devils Night is largely a Detroit thing, when the young men set cars and garages on fire. Well, demons gotta eat, too.
All Saints was my childhood parish, dedicated to the nameless who nevertheless abide in heaven. Catholic Church allowing that only their god knows for sure who made the grade, and they only know about the ones with followings, miracles, or a good horrific death in martyrdom. A working class church, in a neighborhood build around a population of factory and produce depot workers. Who only hope for a seat at the table, nothing showy, no churches ever dedicated to them.
(Can't find any images of the church, but this is the area.)
All Souls, well, no one is sure. Maybe in Purgatory, maybe in Hell. For the catholic heretic, maybe reincarnated. Hungry ghosts or lost out here in the stars, or perhaps atheists rolling their eyes.
I have come to think all this convoluted argument about what will happen after we die, where we'll go under what circumstances, what it will be like, distracts us from living well now. If there is always going to be another chance, another life, another way to make it come out right, I think we get careless over the one life I figure we are given. Or just careful enough to avoid actual damnation. We tend to neglect relationships, putting them off until that eternity in heaven, rather than treasuring each moment.
Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Limbo, all right here, right now, with each choice, or neglectful non-choice.
Breathe in, this is it.
8 comments:
"breathe in. this is it."
yup.
Yes, I think you are so right. The problem with living in the future, especially one about which we can have so little knowledge, or the past (about which we can have too much knowledge) is that we forget that all we truly have is Now.
Hell yes (no pun intended).
Pacian,
I doubt that was an unintended pun. I think you meant it.
It's true.
*hangs head*
Yes, this is it!
(I do like that some religious folk say so too, like St. Catherine of Siena in the 1300s: "All the way to heaven is heaven.")
In my day to day existence we talk almost never about the after life, we're too busy in our day to day to give it any thought. It is not my natural inclination to maintain relationships very well, but I don't think that has anything to do with my belief (or lack thereof) in an afterlife.
Phil,
You seem to have found that sweet spot, then.
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