While I am still active in this life, I have a unique opportunity to let my spirit practice for the next one. For a long time I thought the right response was to hold on tighter as time went on. I see it differently now. The days ahead are not just time to fill, they are a quiet workshop where I can learn the movements I may need later. Each sunrise is another chance to learn the steps that just might help me enter the next life unafraid.
This practice is not morbid, and I don’t see it as dwelling on an ending. It is about learning how to release. I practice this by forgiving more quickly than I used to, by saying what needs to be said to the people who matter while there is still time to say it, and by loosening my grip on old grievances and old possessions that once felt essential. I practice by being grateful for ordinary things, a morning ritual, a good conversation, the trees in my yard, the familiar sky overhead, because gratitude teaches the soul that it has already received so much, and has less to fear losing.
I want to leave this life gracefully and unafraid. Graceful doesn’t mean perfect or painless. It means without thrashing, without clinging to what can’t go with me. Unafraid doesn’t mean I have all the answers about what comes next. It means I have come to trust that the same love (God) that has carried me through this life will not abandon me at its edge. Fear grows when we try to control the doorway. Peace grows when we prepare our hearts to cross it with an open mind.
So I practice each day in small ways. I let a small disappointment go without letting it spoil the whole day. I let go of needing to be right. I try to love people better, more simply, without keeping score. It is not easy, but these are little rehearsals for the great letting go. If I can learn to do that now, then when my time comes, leaving may feel less like being torn away and more like gently stepping forward, gracefully, unafraid, and ready for eternal peace with God.
“If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” – Romans 14:8
Being About The Journey 