Birth is a mystery. Life is a mystery. Death is a mystery. When we stand present to these realities we experience awe.
Green leaves of summer turned red and gold, fell from their branches, and were replaced by falling snow as one of my dear friends fought an aggressive cancer. Three weeks ago the cancer took a final ferocious turn.
For the last twelve days of her life, almost a hundred colleagues joined our friend in an around the clock and around the world prayer vigil, giving her support and comfort. Set to New York time, colleagues in Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, India, Africa, Italy, Canada, Costa Rica. Mexico, and all across the United States selected an hour in which to pray or mediate with our friend and send her uplifting energy.
At every hour of each day there were three to nine persons accompanying our friend by lighting candles, singing songs, ringing bells, saying prayers, repeating mantras, clapping hands, remembering her gifts to humanity, meditating, and sitting in silence.
As our friend’s time for transition to pure spirit drew near, her husband requested that we send short prayers, brief poems, and messages to be read aloud to her. Via email, an amazing collection from varied traditions and cultures was compiled and sent to New York. The global vigil continued.
On the morning of the final day of her transition, with family and closest friends assembled around her bed, the reading began. Throughout the day, names evoked memories, prayers occasioned wonder, poems released tears, phone messages brought smiles, and hand holding gave comfort. Late in the afternoon, a friend arrived to give Reiki and to guide a meditation.
Both my friend and her husband were transported into awe. Each experienced that, “Darkness is just a curtain and when the curtain is pulled aside all that exists is Light, Energy, and Pulsation.”
A few hours later, embraced by her husband and lifted up on a wave of love, my friend slipped quietly away to become one with Infinity. Those who accompanied her on the journey are filled with the extraordinary lightness of her new being. Mystery is everywhere.
