-- John McQuiston II, Always We Begin Again

 

When I left Minnesota, I said goodbye to a dying friend. We both knew it was the last time we would see one another on this side of heaven. He spoke with such joy at the prospect of my new life in Washington. “You are going to meet wonderful people and be about important work,” he said. “I’m so excited for you!”

 

He had always been in love with life, and that day was no exception. He wanted to hear everything—where we were going to live, what our sons were up to, how Paul felt about the move. Two of his children were in the room and he delighted in everything they said. They had just returned from a movie and he wanted to hear all about it.

 

But he wasn’t afraid to speak of death. It was time, he said, to put everything we say believe into practice. “Listen to me now,” he said, “and watch. I’m going to live and die as if everything we say we believe is true.”

 

“Is there life after death?” a disciple once asked a Holy One. And the Holy One answered, “The great spiritual question of life is not ‘Is there life after death?’ but rather, ‘Is there life before death?’”

 

As I go about learning how to live an entirely new life, my dear friend is fast approaching death. I’m listening to him and keeping vigil from afar. In death, he’s teaching me how to live.