Consideration of Life and Death

“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” -Mark Twain

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” -Revelations 21:4

This past week or two has had a distinct theme of death woven in and out of each day, so my mind brought these two quotes up, my default comforting thoughts ever since I had two near-death’s-door experiences within two years of each other. The latter experience, coming during a near head-on collision with an RV up in the hills of Big Sur, really woke me up (no pun intended) to where my life is, had been, and might be going in the future. As I stood there shivering and freaking out in my head on that turnoff area, I kept thinking “why did God spare my life?” and “is my life so important that he wants me to survive to accomplish something big in the future?”

These quotes got me thinking again, as some close family friends recently lost both of their fathers within a day or two of each other & my family attended the funeral/hosted a dinner for the family. He was a wonderful man, who had a good solid handshake, an easy, resonating laugh, and a big heart for his family; I hope to remembered that way in the end…RIP Al Faustini, you will be missed deeply.