Time To Insulate

It is time to insulate. Since last Thursday when we left for Iowa for the funeral of our beloved Nancy, the weather has turned very cold. I left the house with more windows and doors to insulate with AIR. It is time now to finish the insulation. The cold drains energy from the plants and bodies, making them weak and tired.

Funerals can be very draining events. The memories of the loved one suddenly lost can wear at us and make us tired. At Nancy’s viewing long lines of people from all walks of life passed by the casket and gave warmth and comfort to my brother and his children. For five and half hours my brother who has leg problems and other health issues, stood receiving persons with consolations. Every time he seemed ready to collapse with exhaustion another person would hug him and express their sorrow and grief.

At one point in the weekend all the family at my brother’s house went to lunch allowing me to sit alone in the house that Nancy had created and kept. Reading some Merton and Gandhi and reflecting the spirit of Nancy invaded my mind. I felt renewed in my efforts to combat the spirit of death, “kill or be killed’ that has pervaded our society. The energy and strength I received being silent in Nancy’s house gave me new life and new ways to awaken our institutions that have become so numb to death that even a Catholic Jesuit University like Marquette can host the teaching of war and violence and justify it.

Without the energy of heat plants die. Without the energy of awareness of life, humans sleep while awake or asleep. Today I am cold and tired but know where to find heat — in silence, prayer, reading and reflection — to keep the fires of desires alive and well.

Yes, it is time to insulate, windows and doors, body and soul, to keep the light and energy coming in, inside the house, body and soul. With God’s help and the assistance of all the saints, like Nancy, we can insulate ourselves from the darkness and coldness of death and keep the light, fire and energy in us alive.

Comments

(:commentboxchrono:)