Enjoy Every Sandwich

In the past month, I have known two people who died suddenly—my cousin Elaine in a car crash, and the choir director from my former parish in St. Louis, Mary Ellen, from a brain hemorrhage. It is disorienting to realize that I will never see them on this earth again, and disquieting to think that I might experience such a sudden death myself. What is the best way to respond to such reminders of our mortality?

When David Letterman asked the musician Warren Zevon if his diagnosis of terminal cancer had taught him anything about life and death, Zevon responded, “How much you’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich.” We can remind ourselves daily to enjoy every ear of corn dripping with butter, every blooming flower, every chance to visit with a friend. When we give our full attention to what each day brings, we are less likely to have regrets when death approaches.

In her song Who Among You, Delores Dufner, OSB, offers another perspective in contemplating death: “We would run ‘til day is done / ‘til our life on earth is past / walk together to death’s door / find with Christ our home at last.” Accompanying each other to death’s door is a comfort and a gift we can offer each other, and the prospect of being at home with Christ can help us take the final step over the threshold.

The last song Mary Ellen led at St. Cronan before her death was God is Calling Me. God calls us in some way every day, whether it is to enjoy every sandwich or cross over from death into new life. Our task is simply to respond wholeheartedly to each day’s call, whatever it may be.