Living Memento Mori Part 2: Carrying Burdens
I think we all know the feeling or experience of something not being fair that we are being asked to shoulder. On a light note, getting a speeding ticket when you were just moving with the flow of traffic. The question is, “Why was I singled out?”
On a serious note, knowing someone who is experiencing terrible suffering, affliction that is impacting their life, their dreams, their immediate family. Affliction that isn’t fair and appears to be random.
Living memento mori means accepting that life will be hard sometimes. Sometimes really hard, and there will be nothing you can do about it except to simply move forward with the strength you have each day.
Emily DeArdo writes about taking up her cross. One cross being a port-cath installed under her skin for instant IV access when her veins had shut down. Another cross being the cochlear she needed to restore some of the hearing loss she suffered as a result of her illness.
Historically, crosses were instruments of death. Often visible, but in some cases hidden or undetectable. They are “put on us.” We don’t need to go looking for them. They seemingly find us. Emily writes, “Jesus didn’t say. ‘look at your cross,’ He said ‘Take up your cross.’”
I recently read an interview Jim Collins did with Admiral Jim Stockdale. He was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War for 8 years. He was tortured over 20 times. Collins asked Stockdale about who didn’t fare well, who didn’t make it out of the camps. His response was “that’s easy- the optimists.” Those who had an unrealistic view of their condition, their situation, their likely release date. Stockdale was careful to distinguish optimism from faith- that eventually you would prevail in the end. Faith is something you could not afford to lose and be without. That and the discipline of coming to terms with the harsh facts of your current life.
As we start the new year, living memento mori means we are not passive, but active relative to our burdens. It means facing and accepting the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Living in denial of the way things actually are hurts us in the long term.
Thanks for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
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