Going and Coming

“We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.” ~David Sarnoff, Russian-born American businessman and Radio/Television Pioneer (1891-1971)

Jerry sat quietly staring out at the busy harbor. He loved to come by around noon and eat his lunch while watching the ships come and go. Today things were particularly busy. A large cruise ship was preparing to depart apparently for a trip through the Panama Canal, then on to the Caribbean. It was surrounded by people, waving goodbye from the dock.

Drinks in hand the passengers lined the railings on the side facing the dock waving back at those wishing them well. It was one big party. Music filled the air making the atmosphere even more festive. The ship’s horns blared announcing its imminent departure.

Nearby another large ship was tied up in its berth, but the scene here was quite different; a marked contrast from the hullabaloo going on nearby.  The mood was sedate, even somber. The passengers were quietly disembarking. With no one at the dock to greet them they quickly scuttled off in different directions. The crew was efficiently shutting things down and stowing gear. The cabins were quickly cleaned then locked up tight. As the crew and cabin staff completed their assigned tasks they seemed to simply disappear.

“Don’t seem right, do it?”

The voice brought Jerry suddenly out of his personal fog. “HUH?” he responded; turning to see who had spoken. Nearby, seated atop a large piling, part of the wharf, was an old man; weathered and wizened. He looked as if he had stepped out of a Hemmingway novel. Jerry swore he hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“I said, it don’t seem right, do it?” repeated the ancient mariner knocking his pipe out on the heel of his boot, then relighting it with a wooden match.

“What don’t seem right,” Jerry asked?

“Them two ships,” came the response. “All them people gathered around the one that’s get’n ready to leave and no one to greet them’s that are finally home.” “Just don’t seem right,” he concluded staring off in the distance.

The “Old Salt” had gotten Jerry’s attention. “How does it not seem right?” Jerry asked quizzically. “Well, it seems to me, that a long journey, well traveled and now completed means a whole lot more than one that hasn’t even begun yet.” “Who knows what might happen to the one get’n ready to set sail?” “It could sink just outside the breakwater or it could run aground ‘n capsize like that one a few years ago did.” “The way I see it, there’s nothin’ to celebrate…yet.”

“But the one that’s come home to port? That one is a lot like me. She may have had a hard go of it...braved storms and the like, even suffered some serious damage along the way, but she’s finished her journey. She’s come home finally and that’s worth celebrating.”

Jerry looked at the old man, then back at the two ships. The first cruise liner was slowly pulling away from the dock while second was being powered down.  The old fellow continued: “I only hope that when I dock for the last time there will be people there to bid me welcome…to congratulate me on a journey well traveled.” The old man seemed to look a place far beyond the horizon. Jerry stared in the same direction for a very long time, trying to see what this sage of the sea had seen.

Finally Jerry turned in the direction where the man had been sitting. “You know my name’s Jerry and…” but he stopped short. He starred at the piling for a moment in disbelief. The old man was gone.

We have come to think of conception as the arrival into and death as the departure from physical life. However, life itself is the journey: Birth being the departure point and death the arrival. As Christian stewards we profess that everything is a gift from a good and loving God which is to be gratefully received. Unfortunately, we typically view the death of a loved one as “our loss.” And yet, when viewed as the successful completion of a long and successful journey; a life well lived, there is gratitude to be found.

Irish Wakes are a wonderful example of this. The Wake is the period from the time of death until the body is conveyed to the church for burial. Wakes are celebrated in the home with food and plenty of alcoholic beverages. It is a time for family and friends to socialize and share remembrances of the departed person's life. It is not a time for tears, but a time to celebrate.

“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death [better] than the day of birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1). Certainly this is not the case when a life is tragically cut short. But when someone passes on in peace and with a good and honorable name, after a successful life– we should mourn, but it is also a time for rejoicing and for celebrating a life well lived.

Dear God: Remind me that you pour life into death and death into life without spilling a single drop.

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~Mark Twain, American author (1835-1910)

©2012 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.