Life is short

13th May, 2009 - Posted by Jon -

Some friends of ours lost their 16-year-old daughter on Sunday, in just about the most tragic way possible. I’ve been thinking a lot about them over the last few days, and not a lot about Sharonimo. One of the questions I’ve been chewing on is “How do I respond?”. Not “What can I say?” but “What can I do?”. What can I do to respond to this senseless tragedy, not to mention all of the others that happen every day, all over the world, and which I’m more able to ignore? One answer, I suppose, is to simply use the time and resources I’ve been given to make the world a more beautiful, less tragic place. We’ll never have a world without suffering, but our actions–even small ones–can definitely swing things one way or the other. Another is to be more mindful, to live more consciously and compassionately. Another, I think, is to let tragedy be what it is, and not attempt to explain it away as part of some grand plan. There was a time when I might have tried this, but as I experience more of life, with its endless beauty and endless suffering, I’m less and less willing to make or accept claims about why things are the way they are. If we really want to live gracefully, I think wondering is about the best we can do.