As we grow older we have more and more people to remember, people who have died before us. It is very important to remember those who have loved us and those we have loved. Remembering them means letting their spirits inspire us in our daily lives. They can become part of our spiritual communities and gently help us as we make decisions on our journeys. Parents, spouses, children, and friends can become true spiritual companions after they have died. Sometimes they can become even more intimate to us after death than when they were with us in life.
Remembering the dead is choosing their ongoing companionship.
For further reflection...
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. - Hebrews 12: 1 (NIV)
Your response...
Whose life inspires and accompanies you when you remember them? Comment on this Daily Meditation.
Continue the Inspiration
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When we think about death, we often think about what will happen to us after we have died. But it is more important to think about what will happen to those we leave behind. The way we die has a deep and lasting effect on those who stay alive. It will be easier for our family and friends to remember us with joy and peace if we have said a grateful good-bye than if we die with bitter and disillusioned hearts.
The greatest gift we can offer our families and friends is the gift of gratitude. Gratitude sets them free to continue their lives without bitterness or self-recrimination.
For further reflection...
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful... - Hebrews 12: 28 (NIV)
Your response...
"God, who is not in a hurry, has called us into a life that is attentive to God's reconciling work." - Christopher Smith and John Pattison, Slow Church
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