Born to Die, part twenty-five

Whether I know it or not, the universe is unfolding as it should. This line from Desiderata continues to impress me because it is demonstrably true. So it is that I find myself in a position unique to my fifty-eight years by observing Holy Week and Easter alone. Mary is in Lincoln caring for her mother. Rachel and Rebecca are living their adult lives in Flagstaff. Mom and Kim are in Billings and Dad is in Denver. It is a credit to all of these people that for nearly six decades I have been in the company of one or all of them to observe the highest day in Christianity. And the fact that this year will be different has shed light upon the subject of my Lenten journey. Having already arrived at the conclusion that Experience is the most intimately crucial component of the Wesleyan quadrilateral, providence is providing me with the key to human experience: relationship. In his genius Einstein demonstrated that everything is relative, and in order for everything to be relative it must be related. This relationship of all things is what I experience as a human being, and now I realize that the great fear associated with death is not knowing what happens to all those relationships. If it means losing cherished relationships with those I love, then I don’t want to die.