* * *
She, some 20 to 25 years my senior. I had never met her. We crossed paths in the aisle at the grocery store this afternoon.
She looked familiar; I do not know why. Possibly, a recognition not of the body. I consider it weird that people think we were not before ~ like she and I~ and just showed up here. Like, "Hello, who are you?" "Oh, I'm something called An-Egg-and-a-Sperm. Kinda weird, I know, but too complicated to go into just now."
She and I had a good conversation. I initiated it for some reason ~ who knows? The conversation somehow turned to aging and death. She told me she is weary and thinks about death as a way to move on out of her exhausted body. She remarked, "You know, when you get this way, it's like, 'What is there to live for?'." We both spoke of the journey continuing after the body drops, but we did not share any details. We did affirm death is not an end and is as natural as birth.
I shared I had worked with the dying through hospice. I spoke of how so many persons I saw had a more meaningful life when their bodies could not support their busy lives. My hands swayed back and forth to indicate how people run around hurriedly here and there all the time. I talked of how persons I had worked with were usually ready to die before the time came, and of how many get enthused about it, and that the families are the ones not enthused about it.
She listened intently to me, and I to her. During the sharing time, she began smiling. We said our goodbyes, and she spoke, with a lovely smile, "Thank you so much; you've encouraged me." I smiled and wished her a blessed day.
See, you never know where you may have a meaningful encounter with yourself, a yourself you have no memory of meeting before.
knock knock
who's there?
you
how's that possible?
why not drop the question and just
greet yourself?
* * *
*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024. Permission is given to use photographs and writings with credit given to the copyright owner.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
