in memoriam - sing. climb. dance.

Earlier this week I ran across the following words from a poem by Kahlil Gibran and was deeply moved. I wept. In 2010 I have known several people close to me who have been wrestling with the grief of losing a parent; my own soul has been touched by their grief in an almost raw way. I share the words now in special memory of all the mothers and fathers of my friends who have died.

For what is to die
but to stand naked in the wind
and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing,
but to free the breath from its restless tides,
that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs
then shall you truly dance.

~Kahlil Gibran

Let us be reminded to live more fully in the now, with our hearts so wide open that we no longer fear being touched by grief. May we honor our loved ones who have died by allowing our memories of them to both spur and inspire us to sing, to climb, and to dance, that we, ourselves, might be ready to embrace standing naked in the wind and melting into the sun when our own time has come.