Module 17 Personal Reflection: Before I hang up, don't forget

I loved my maternal grandparents, Nana and Granddaddy, fiercely. I loved them fiercely because that is how they loved me. My mother died when I was just a few weeks old, so my older siblings and I always had a uniquely strong and profoundly enduring connection with them. They died almost forty years ago, but their imprint is more than etched on my heart, it is irremovably embedded there. I can still see their faces filled with delight when they would see us. I feel the warmth of their hugs and sweetness of their kisses. I recall their laughter, their stories, their influence in their community, and most of all, their luminous love for each other and for each of us.

My grandfather was a minister, and he had high hopes that I would follow in his steps. Whenever we would talk on the phone, my grandfather would often conclude with the same three phrases, “God bless you. I love you. Preach the word.” Final words, in phone conversations, at airport departures, or by hospital bedsides, are important. They hold a certain meaning because they are certainly meant to communicate a personal and prioritized message. My grandfather wanted me to know that he hoped I would have a good life, that I would always know how much he loved me, and that I would reach and teach others in a way that would bring light and hope to those who might find themselves in dark despair. Before he hung up the phone, he wanted me to hear again his deepest longings for my life.

Let me now pivot with a parting paragraph or two, because at some point, we are all going to hang up (or hang it up). The breath that supported our first newly born cry, and then sustained the conversations of a lifetime, will cease. But before that inevitable and natural physical disconnection of death, don’t forget to keep a strong connection with life. Don’t hang up too soon. There are still important things to be said and done. Rumi said, “I learned that every mortal will taste death. But only some will taste life.” William Somerset Maugham echoed a similar sentiment with his words, “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.”

Hang on for the joy of a lifetime before you hang up. Some people are so afraid of dying that they forget to live. Death will come when it comes. But it hasn’t come yet. It’s not here now. Yes, we’re going to die someday. So today, let’s live--fully, richly, deeply. Be good to yourself and all other beings. Don’t miss the moments of your life, because they combine to create a momentous life. As this term comes to a close, I want to offer my parting words for this course. Like my grandfather before me, before I hang up, hear me say one more time, “May you be blessed in this world and be a blessing to this world. May love enrich your life and may you share it extravagantly. May you tell your truth, and in the way that you tell it and live it, may you change the world for good.”