Mortal

Many years ago, when I faced a significant loss, a dear friend sent me a book called When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It was written by Harold W. Kushner, a rabbi, whose son died at the age of fourteen from a disease called progeria.

I read several book at the time that focused on grief. Most of them were a bunch of fluff; many written by psychologists who had never experienced a life-altering loss. But Kushner's book was one of the only books that made sense to me. I've kept that book around as a reminder that death is "an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws." Recently I dug it out and re-read it. I wanted to see if it was still pertinent today as it was then. And, indeed, it is.

About half-way through the book Kushner reminds readers of Calypso in Homer's Odyssey. Calypso, a sea princess, was a child of the gods. She, being immortal, was fascinated with Odysseus because he was a mortal and will not live forever. Calypso envies him because his life is full of meaning and his every decision more significant. Because his time is limited, "what he chooses to do with it represents a real choice."

Like Odysseus, we are mortal, and we will die. Death is the hazard of living. Every day people die from accidents and incurable illnesses while some die in their sleep at a very old age. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.   A lot of people forget this; some ignore it. Others wake up each day rejoicing they are still here. There are those of us who have been issued a best-by date and we are trying to pack as much meaning and significance into every day we have left. We cannot ignore it and we cannot forget. Our time is limited and we have to make a real choice. Calypso must be envious.