"And this is the Comfort of the Good,
that the grave cannot hold them,
and that they live as soon as they die.
For Death is no more
than a turning of us over from time to eternity.
Death, then, being the way and condition of Life,
we cannot love to live,
if we cannot bear to die.
They that love beyond the World, cannot be separated by it.
Death cannot kill what never dies.
Nor can Spirits ever be divided
that love and live in the same Divine Principle,
the Root and Record of their Friendship.
If Absence be not death, neither is theirs.
Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas ..."
-William Penn, 1693
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my thanks go out for remarking how even (would-be) lawyers can revel in disorder. let the truth be known.
bluegrass has its country charm (and celtic roots). i'll listen to just about anyting so long as it keeps my foot tappin'.
toto coelo: utterly or completely. my favorite judge, Learned Hand, was fond of the phrase.
so i will try to be, inter alia, a little more thorough from now on and not leave things unsaid for you to guess at. (cheeky, no?)
as for the humility topic, you're right--it would be proper to address the issue in a book or long essay. but here's the gist of it:
when someone's alive, it's easier to resent their actions, shortcomings, etc. (i'll refrain here from saying "hate" them) and deny that you love them. for, on some subconscious level, there's a recognition that life at least entails the possibility of the other person eventually coming to their senses and admitting to their faults, flaws, mistakes, etc. There's probably a subconscious desire (derivative of love?) to see them make things rights as well. death robs you of that possibility, that opportunity to see the other person recant, repent, and rectify. it leaves you at and end--at which point you either allow resentment to turn into hate or swallow your pride and accept the deceased for who they were. humility is essential to the latter route since it behooves you to admit to your own mistakes, flaws, etc. while trying to objectively find closure to the relationship.
or so i would have you believe.
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