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
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."
ReplyDeleteBeing 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.
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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