Just To Be Is a Blessing

On Sunday, Sister Elena Hernandez of my community celebrated her 101st birthday. Today is the birthday of soul singer Otis Redding, who died in a plane crash at age 26. Tomorrow is the 15th death anniversary of my Mom, who lived to be 77. Saturday will be the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 catastrophe, when thousands of people of all ages went to work without an inkling that they would die that day.

If there is one universal truth that should help us grow in empathy, kindness, and forgiveness, it is that every human being and animal is going to die one day (including us!), and we don’t know when. Therefore, today might very well be the last day we have to savor a cup of coffee, to lend an ear to someone who is having a bad day, or to bury a grudge. Because we didn’t die yesterday or the day before that, the mind is tricked into thinking we won’t die today, either. Most days, that will be true. One day, it won’t.

Someone once told me that one particular morning he was impatient and testy with a beloved friend, who died unexpectedly later that day. Because we are human, such things sometime happen. However, our chances of avoiding these type of regrets increase when we take to heart the wisdom of the Buddha, who said: “In the end, only three things matter: How much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

Each day, our mortality calls us to be loving, to live gently, and to be grateful for what is instead of what we think we want. As the saying goes, today is the first day of the rest of your life; it also might be the last day of the rest of your (earthly) life. However close you are to the end of your human journey, may you be a blessing today to others and remember, as Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Just to be is a blessing; just to live is holy.”