Thursday, November 20, 2008 (No. 37)
Exchanging Words with Death
This time of year poses some interesting juxtapositions. The beauty of early autumn is moving into the cold decay of late autumn, foreshadowing the darkness and barrenness of winter. The liturgical year ends with ominous predictions of judgments, destruction, and end times. And in the midst of all this, we gather on a national level with family and friends around a grand meal of thanksgiving.
I recently read of a parent discussing their young child’s first encounter with death, specifically the death of a beloved grandparent. He described his child’s experience as “exchanging words with death”. What an interesting turn of phrase. The word exchange implies some level of interaction, a two-way communication. Death is one way only. There is no communication. There is no exchange. And yet we try to grapple with death in order to come to some kind of understanding. Thus death can become a door way into mystery, into something larger than ourselves.
From the living’s perspective, death takes—gone, zip, silence, nothing more. The words of those left behind seem to strain and grasp into the nothingness of the void left behind of the loved one who used to be. There is no exchange. Death takes. Death gives nothing back. There is no echo to our words.
From eternity’s perspective, death is birth—the final transition. In the darkness of the womb, a baby’s birth seems like death to the fetus and to its way of life, and yet, he or she is born into a wider, larger, wonderful world of half light and half darkness. At our final death, we pass from this world into another, a still wider, much larger, more amazing universe of light.
Life is one way. Looking forward, the direction is called death. Looking backwards, it is called birth.
And the words we try to exchange with death do not return to us, but echo forward through the dark mystery to our loved ones. We echo through the One—the Word, Jesus Christ—who exchanged our death for life.
Keep hope alive. Dare to trust. All is gift.
Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us.
