“Before I met my husband, I'd never fallen in love . . .
Advertisers
use “love” to sell lipstick, cars, toothpaste, orange juice and disposable
diapers. These ephemera are supposed to capture the shopping-induced bliss of
love. And speaking of ephemera, or that which does not endure, you can find a
society, a speakers bureau, and even a mentoring program dedicated to
preserving these tangible things in, for instance, university libraries. With
proper ID, you can check out some ephemera and fondle it in the comfort of your
own home.
But love is
more difficult to find. Like our cave-dwelling ancestors, we attribute to
things magical powers. The right car or slipcover casts a benevolent spell
ensuring love and happiness. Such bliss endures only until a new model or
design emerges the following day.
I don’t know
about you, but when I think of “love,” I don’t imagine it being so flimsy and
fickle. More than an unstable state of being, love is a verb. Sometimes love
originates from on high, in a moment of rapture. Other times, love’s expression
may seem prosaic, anchored in everyday gestures revealing compassion for and
acknowledgment of “the other.” Both kinds tap into the unseen but intuitively
“felt” understanding that comes from the soul connected to the invisible and
infinite world of spirit.
The moment
of physical death, like physical birth, changes the earthly and spiritual
landscape by one unit. When faced with a beloved dying, why is it that we
resist letting go? When their body no longer responds to their demands, when it
is time for them to transition, why do we want to keep them “here” with us?
What are we holding onto and why?
A friend
shared a video of a young grey whale tangled in fishing nets. A small boating
party freed him. They were not “professional” whale rescuers. They did not have
fancy diving equipment–just a snorkeling mask, flippers and a steak knife. They
didn’t use a tranquilizer gun to subdue the frightened two-ton mammal. They
didn’t have swarthy fishing gear. They were out whale watching with a toddler
on board, enjoying the sea. When they encountered the creature, they thought he
was doing a dead-whale float when a geyser of air and water shot out of its
blowhole —a last gasp to breathe. The video captures the drama of the rescue
and the spectacular finale – the whale breaching and tail slapping in a display
of nothing less than pure joy.
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Humpback Whale shows AMAZING Appreciation after Being Freed from Nets!
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This video
illustrates how we could feel when someone dies. Freed from the mortal snare,
free to cavort and join friends and ancestors on the other side, our dearly
departed enters a spiritual realm as mysterious as the unexplored depths of the
ocean. We humans resemble whales—not only as oxygen breathing mammals—but also
as creatures that swim between two worlds: the world of air symbolizing the
external elements exposed to the sun, and the world of water symbolizing the
unseen world of the spiritual realm.
Some say we
are born all knowing and that we forget as we live. We are born from the world
of water and emerge only to respond to love. It is the same on the way out of
this world: we emerge from the world of sun to the realm of spirit only to
respond to love. The spiritual world does not require designer shoes, diplomas,
money, or air; love is the only clothing, the only thing worth knowing, the
only currency and oxygen.
If people
have been birthing and dying for eons, why is this process still so mysterious?
Why are we so often blind to our own heart’s desires? We cannot perceive our
own soul’s journey. Great spiritual teachers throughout human history have told
us over and over: true love is our common origin and destination. But we refuse
to believe it.
Without a
living will, as someone lies dying, instead of freeing the whale, we look on
helplessly. Instead of removing the unnecessary net—the IV drips, mechanical
lungs, and feeding tubes—we lament the whale is trapped. We write letters to
Congress about the injustice of trapped whales. Attaching elaborate, mechanical
life-support systems, we ensure the trapped whale can survive for years, unable
to swim with friends or visit its favorite krill bistros.
Without
understanding the origin and destination of our souls, we cannot understand
what we need for our end-of-life voyage. As we release someone to the next
realm, may we rejoice in their freedom from bondage in this world and their joy
in returning home.
