Thoughts

This morning has been a time of contemplation. Mostly about death and our reaction to it. Perhaps I am odd in my own - having 'died' twice, and having had a 'near death experience' both times, it does not leave a big gaping hole in my soul when I look at it. Frankly, I'm looking forward to it. So much to learn, so many answers to finally get... I am excited, sometimes, by the thought that sometime soon* I will know what Diety really wants of us, if we reincarnate or if we don't, what the rest of our progression will be like. To experience a different level of relationship with the Almighty. To see, perhaps, old friends and family (Oh, to see my mother healed again! How she will shine!). There is nothing to fear there.

This life we have is an eyeblink in time, a dust in the desert of eternity. I find that comforting, that what we do, what we say, will someday be nearly immaterial to what we are thousands of years from now. For one as imperfect as I am that is a true comfort. Individual episodes of action or behavior set a pattern of personality. This life sets our patterns as we know them but does not, cannot define who we will be eons from now when our souls have long, long left these particular fleshly envelopes behind. I view the possibilities with wonder. I strive to keep those possibilities in the forefront of my mind when dealing with the people around me.**

Anything more I'd write would be nattering. I need to finish my diet Pepsi and get some caffeine in my system. :)


*don't freak - 'soon' means 'sometime in my waning years', which I am entering. Get real, I'm in my fifties!

** I fail more often than I like, but everyone needs a goal and this is one of mine.

From Andrew Larsen:
". . . famous Quo Warranto inquest held in 1278 under Edward I. When the Earl of Warenne was asked by what warrant he held his franchise, he supposedly produced an old and rusty sword, which he claimed his ancestor had used during the Norman Conquest. He insisted that the Conqueror would not have succeeded except with the help of his ancestors, who were his partners and helpers. His right to his franchise was accepted, although whether by virtue of his argument or because Edward simply didn't want to confront him at the time isn't s clear."

"Honor is about being strong, and controling that strength for the benefit of others. It's about being worthy of being trusted. It's about having rules that mean that, even though you have the ability to hurt people, you choose not to hurt people, as much as you possibly can.

It's about letting what you say be true, and making sure that what you promise happens. It's about living up to your word. It's about protecting those in your care. It's about letting one's gentleness temper one's capacity for violence, and about only letting violence happen in the service of gentleness.

It's about believing that there's something more important than your own personal immediate comfort."

-- Xiphias Gladius