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Follow your heart
Death teaches us to live life fully and follow our hearts
Yesterday, at our mosque we remembered a Bosnian sister who had passed away from a 2-year fight with cancer. I saw her friends and relatives grieving, and today is her funeral. I remembered how our community had done so much for Bosnian refugees during the 1992 genocide in Europe. And I wondered how she came here as a refugee, fortunate to be rescued from that tragedy then.
Our Sufi teacher used this moment as a beautiful reminder about life and death. Death reminds us of the temporality of life. Even as we mourn and grieve for the loss of the one who departed, we are reminded that we will all taste death. That does not mean that we stop living and just wait for death. Remembering death should not be a morbid idea; and of course, one should not focus on it with those who are too young and innocent, like children.
No, indeed it tells us to live life more fully! It teaches us to examine how we are living and how much love is in our hearts, for ourselves, for others, for life, for family, for community and for the world and all the Universes. Are we compassionate to ourselves, and managing our stress and anxiety and our relationships? Are we compassionate to others? Are we saying “I love you” enough to loved ones? Are we giving time and of ourselves to those we love and…
