Thursday, April 2, 2015

Last Words

An important part of Holy Week for many Christian traditions is time spent reflecting on the “last words” of Jesus. I’ve participated in some deeply meaningful services based on “stations of the cross” where Jesus’ last words from a number of gospel stories were read aloud, and then reflected upon in silence.

Some time ago, I read a collection of last words spoken by famous people. Some of them were predictable, but others were also thought-provoking. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, after being gunned down, is reported to have said, as he lay dying, "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."

They made me wonder what I would like for my last words to be; which led to imagining myself walking around every day, always (& only?) saying last-worthy things. That seemed awkward and disingenuous, rather like a thespian trying to converse in everyday life with lines from his favorite play. I think I've met a few folks like that.

Then I started wondering what it would be like to be so attuned to the people and circumstances around me, and so free of any anxiety or concern over what people think, that I always (okay, maybe often or at least more often than not) speak the grace that needs to be heard. THOSE would be words worth breathing, final or not.

Whatever my last words turn out to be – a Pancho Villa-ish wish, or something more profound – I think I'll just practice paying attention a bit more.


© 2015 Todd Jenkins


2 comments:

  1. I love this. Words have more meaning to me today than they once did. During a long and hard discussion with my husband about a month ago he recalled something I both did and said quite a few years ago, if I may be so bold as to say B.C. This was not a ressurection of a buried hatchet, but a working through of deep wounds. I was floored. I said, "I said that?" "Yes, you did." "I'm sorry."

    Being aware of others, of the sacred ground we walk on in the most mundane moments of our lives, is the hardest (read selfless) and most beautiful (read divine) journey my feet and heart have ever been on.

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    1. Words are the best tools I have to speak my heart, anything from hate to hope, and so much in-between. "I'm sorry!" can be the two most important ones.

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