sadly...twi's attitudes towards death, dying, illness, grief and the dead and such is a much wider socio-cultural phenomenon. They just had a very bad case of it. not the worst though.
we are currently living in the wake of a century of deep denial and avoidance of such things, and have more or less lost touch with most all the "arts of dying" (aka living)...so i find that it helps not to take it personal...or at least merely personal.
ive seen similar patterns in many mainstream churches, jewish and muslim and buddhist faiths, secular families and organizations, "new age" spiritual groups, even hospitals and counselers. such as the "flat positivism" that is currently in vogue.
good news...is that we have been dying a very long time...and we know very much about it in our very bones...and so God, our intuition, and the rest of the universe responds a thousandfold when we actually do lean into the flames of it all. And not just with our own, but in relationship to others who are...which is the majority of how we experience it anyway.
anyway, feel free to pm me if it makes sense to. i may know of a few helpful things.
Especially in this country, where we have SO MUCH STUFF, so little real spiritual values, denial is all. Remember "Fame?"
"I'm gonna live forever", were the first words of the theme song.
No, you're not.
Perhaps the Victorian era over-romanticized death, but we simply deny it exists. Youth and beauty are everything. Those top models are younger and younger, thinner and thinner, year by year.
It's important to realize that we live in corruptible flesh. We get old, we get tired, we get chronic and acute diseases. Yet somebody the corruptible shall be made incorruptible and someday the mortal shall put on immortality.
I believe this life is a sort of boot camp for the next. If dying equals failure or weakness, then we are all weak and all have failed. But if Christ indeed is the first fruits of the dead, then we have something to look forward to that not even condemnation from TWI or our own denial can take away!
Especially in this country, where we have SO MUCH STUFF, so little real spiritual values, denial is all. Remember "Fame?"
"I'm gonna live forever", were the first words of the theme song.
No, you're not.
Perhaps the Victorian era over-romanticized death, but we simply deny it exists. Youth and beauty are everything. Those top models are younger and younger, thinner and thinner, year by year.
It's important to realize that we live in corruptible flesh. We get old, we get tired, we get chronic and acute diseases. Yet somebody the corruptible shall be made incorruptible and someday the mortal shall put on immortality.
I believe this life is a sort of boot camp for the next. If dying equals failure or weakness, then we are all weak and all have failed. But if Christ indeed is the first fruits of the dead, then we have something to look forward to that not even condemnation from TWI or our own denial can take away!
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sirguessalot
sadly...twi's attitudes towards death, dying, illness, grief and the dead and such is a much wider socio-cultural phenomenon. They just had a very bad case of it. not the worst though.
we are currently living in the wake of a century of deep denial and avoidance of such things, and have more or less lost touch with most all the "arts of dying" (aka living)...so i find that it helps not to take it personal...or at least merely personal.
ive seen similar patterns in many mainstream churches, jewish and muslim and buddhist faiths, secular families and organizations, "new age" spiritual groups, even hospitals and counselers. such as the "flat positivism" that is currently in vogue.
good news...is that we have been dying a very long time...and we know very much about it in our very bones...and so God, our intuition, and the rest of the universe responds a thousandfold when we actually do lean into the flames of it all. And not just with our own, but in relationship to others who are...which is the majority of how we experience it anyway.
anyway, feel free to pm me if it makes sense to. i may know of a few helpful things.
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Watered Garden
Especially in this country, where we have SO MUCH STUFF, so little real spiritual values, denial is all. Remember "Fame?"
"I'm gonna live forever", were the first words of the theme song.
No, you're not.
Perhaps the Victorian era over-romanticized death, but we simply deny it exists. Youth and beauty are everything. Those top models are younger and younger, thinner and thinner, year by year.
It's important to realize that we live in corruptible flesh. We get old, we get tired, we get chronic and acute diseases. Yet somebody the corruptible shall be made incorruptible and someday the mortal shall put on immortality.
I believe this life is a sort of boot camp for the next. If dying equals failure or weakness, then we are all weak and all have failed. But if Christ indeed is the first fruits of the dead, then we have something to look forward to that not even condemnation from TWI or our own denial can take away!
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Grace Valerie Claire
WG, great post!
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