“Death is neither to be sought nor resisted. It is only to be accepted as the exclamation point of life. “Do not seek death,” Dag Hammarskjold wrote, “but seek the road which makes death a fulfilment.” A Month of Memories. Joan Chittister, 2009. Benetvision.
This year as we have been surrounded with daily accounts from media news of death and destruction and continued accounts of violence the image of death seems to be ever present. Yet, even our own moments of sadness and loss, these words of Dag Hammarskjold can help us to understand that even in war situations – death is not the end. Every death is to be honoured – we are living in a generation of heroes and today’s martyrs. We read about those who have gone before us in our history books and celebrate our World War heroes yearly throughout the world – but never before have we seen, so vividly on our screens, such devastation and loss of life – not only from war, but of children and people suffering from famine and loss of land due to drought, flooding and more recently, severe fires that embraces our planet.
This month of November is a time for the Church through its liturgy, to be a Christian memory of all our saints and heroes who by their very lives – “in every era and every age – prove to us that it is possible to be other than those around us who love to exploit life.” (Chittister. The Liturgical Year, 2009).
As war and violence continues around us, our prayers and thoughts during this month are vital to accompany the many who lose loved ones. As Chittister writes: Death seems so cruel, so purposeless at times. But it’s not. Death is what alerts the rest of us to life. . . .”