4 Deaths, 11 Days: In Memoriam...

In memoriam: I’m praying for the souls of my cousin Bubba (from Mattie Mabry’s side of my family); of the grandmother of Lumumba Bandele, of the mother of Wm. Jelani Cobb, and of the grandmother of Marcella Runell Hall…all who passed between January 23 and Feb. 2, 2011 (an 11 day stretch). That’s alot.

Something to hold from Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet, with the hope that somewhere in these words, there’s a comforting spirit.

Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would

ask now of Death.

And he said:

You would know the secret of death.

But how shall you find it unless you seek

it in the heart of life?

The owl whose night-bound eyes are

blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of

death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one, even as the

river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires

lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;

And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow

your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden

the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling

of the shepherd when he stands before the

king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his

trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?

Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked

in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing, but to

free the breath from its restless tides, that

it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of

silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top,

then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your

limbs, then shall you truly dance.