Daily Meditation for October 12, 2022

Some people who are close to death, because they have received the news of a terminal illness or for some other reason, live with a blazing intensity. They’re hungry for the faces of loved ones, for birdsong and the music of laughter, for the rustle of fall leaves and the taste of crisp apples. They are wide open and truthful. Just being near these luminous people can shake up the humdrum sameness of our days. Maybe the lesson their lives offer us is not that death is nearby but rather that life—messy, exuberant, and abundant—is all around us. Right now, today, we can be as hungry as these people are. We can walk in the rustling October leaves and wander in the night’s sheltering darkness. We don’t have to wait for the moment of death to ask for and offer forgiveness. Most of all, we can take a risk and say, “I love you.”

By Mara Faulkner, OSB