we asked for signs

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I was talking to a dying friend. He was having trouble breathing and was in a lot of pain. He was telling me how, despite the pain, it was all perfect somehow, in a way he couldn't explain. That in the midst of the blood and the sleepless nights and the immobility, he had found a place of serenity. A place of freedom from his story of himself as 'the dying one'. A place of freedom from all dreams and hopes for the future, and a deep acceptance of things as they were. Life had radically simplified itself - the moment was all that mattered now, and all that had ever mattered. He told me, "Despite all this, I wouldn't swap this life for any other."

 

We are constantly reminded of the fragility of our hopes, dreams, plans and beliefs. The foundation of our world has cracks in it, and time and time again we are invited to remember the preciousness of life itself prior to "my life", the gift of existence prior to "I exist". Existence is our temple - the ground on which we stand is deeply sacred.

 

–Jeff Foster 

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