Lessons about dying

Death is not dying, beyond  this life is an everlasting life with our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. For those that believe you come back as something or someone else the point is you live again, there is something more.

We mourn the loss and but must rejoice the life of those who have fulfilled their time on earth and it is their time to return to he who created them.  Sometimes the fight and the struggle to live has to yield to the calmness, peace and tranquility of dying. There is nothing that surpasses the will of God.  It never makes sense when a good person dies or suffers illness prior to dying.  But often it makes more sense when one we perceive as bad dies tragically, death is death. No one can completely understand the will of God but we all have our perceptions of what it is. But one thing I do know...he makes no mistakes, misfire or mishaps. There is peace. In knowing someone no longer has to suffer, hurt or live as a fragment of the person they wart to be or use to be.

So knowing this, whenever someone passes I try to reflect on what I know about them and receive whatever there is for me to receive. In the passing of one of my Pastors a memory I recall reminds me that something as small as "good morning or good to see you" a simple smile can turn a bad morning into a great day. A death through tragedy reminds me to be cautious and pray often. It reminds me that there are people who need help, places that need work and things that need to be done, the only way to understand this is through prayer.  Sometimes it's surface, someone in our neighborhood gets killed, you know the community needs more resources  and more police presence. But sometimes you have to dig deeper, when a child in a community is killed the question is then more, "what could we as a community have done to prevent this situation from reoccurring.

There is a meaning in every movement in life.
For some the meaning is to reflect on your own life and make the changes needed to endure the struggles that will surely come, to reflect on the quality of the relationship you had with that person who dies and exemplify those lessons learned from having that person in your life and apply it to your relationship with others. It also gives you an opportunity to look at a tragedy and either make changes to your life for the better or find your calling in helping others to not fall to the same fate....

For example, this thought was inspired by the life and legacy of a man who had a history of drug use and could've died in the streets, he survived, had surgery and could've died on the table, he didn't..had a bullet come through his car and could've killed him, it didn't...all these circumstances could've have taken him out, but it wasn't God's plan for he still had work to do, lives to touch love, hugs and kisses to give and smiles to pass along to brighten the lives of the paths he crossed. God be with you Brotha, Reverend, Dr. Darryl Saffore.

Another friend passed away some time ago, she was young, after reflecting on my relationship with her there are a few things that came out of it. One, she loved EVERY one no matter the walk of life, during this time I was still in my judgmental phase. I started the path of changing that and started looking at people for who they were not from where they came. The other thing I took from her death, a statement she said to me, "Chevonne we have a true friendship, although we don't talk everyday when we do talk (it had been 2 months) it feels like we're picking up a conversation we had yesterday." I realized the value of friendship.

Even when my grandfather passed away in 2002, the lesson was how he always said his affairs were in order and he would leave nothing undone. I would also learn what the loss of unconditional love felt like, huge void..huge.

So I suppose although we mourn and miss someone or even look at tragedy as we shake our heads in sadness and disgust, if we sit and think beyond our feelings there is a message or a lesson.

The recent death of 49 people in Orlando Florida, reminds us that prejudice still exists and has catastrophic repercussions. Although, some tried to minimize it by stating it's "not the worst in U.S. History". Your missing the point, people died! Period, for who they are and the lifestyle they live. 49+ lives have been affected by the loss of a loved one, a bunch of others will forever be changed and traumatized by the event they were present for. Lesson learned, we need stronger gun laws, why was that person able to get that type of gun so easily? Why are these types of guns available outside of the military?  And the message, there are people who cannot be who they are without fear harm, persecution or death? Hopefully it will cause people to look on a larger scale at their lives/beliefs and do something different.

After you cry your tears mourn the loss, or shake your head over a tragedy,.began to look for the lesson.