A couple weeks ago as Lent approached, I had a great conversation with John Marsaglia, softball coach at LLCC. John is the staff/faculty sponsor of the FCA on campus, and when combined with his background as an educator--we spend quite a bit of time discussing stuff not-directly related to sports. It may be history, maybe it's adolescent psychology, or it could be our favorite restaurants in Springfield.
We'd had a recent talk on religion and in doing research for a novel (a sequel to a novel I've written but don't yet have a publisher for...is that overconfidence on my part, or what?), I came across a fascinating quote from Werner von Braun, a Nazi scientist, responsible for the V-1 and V-2 rocket programs, and later, after being brought to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip, the Apollo program.
His quote: "Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me, strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death."
Given that it's Lent, in Christian terms the point where Jesus is executed and then returns to life, that proved to me to be a very interesting quote. The two issues are the same--transformation.
So me and John talked for a bit regarding allegory, metaphor, and historic truths, and the subject of death came up again--in terms of deceased family members and friends. John had just had a close friend have a scare while someone I attended high school with died from a rare form of brain cancer. We'd just passed the 2nd anniversary of my step-father's death, which for me means that two weeks from today, it'll be the fourth anniversary of my mom's death.
When she died, my sister showed me an email she received from a friend of hers--a practicing Buddhist. With everything going on at the time, the pain and loss, reading that email proved a great comfort (and it's related here, too...).
The gist: Day follows night follows day. Being awake follows being asleep follows being asleep. There is a cycle to everything, thus, why do we worry about death? What once was comes again. Thus, death follows life naturally, and after death, therefore, there must be life.
Isn't that interesting? A Buddhist story that parallels the story of Easter and a core tenet of Christianity? Isn't it equally great that both find a mirror in Braun's quote and his observation on nature? I think that says a great deal about the reality of an Almighty and the separation from Him/It caused by the creation of religions. John thought the parallel was fascinating, maybe empowering, for his own faith, but really--how many people do you know who would get upset or poo-poo the story that doesn't already match with their notions?
All of that? Not my point. It's all how I got to here. I realized there are some other parallels regarding behavior--things like compassion and forgiveness. I lack forgiveness sometimes; I hold grudges. I know this and I don't hide it from any body. But I've been talking with John and some of the lessons he's taken from the Bible, and I've been reading observations from the Dalai Lama via his website and his Twitter account. I realized something--I need to work on that grudge thing I've got going.
After all, how can I be compassionate, how can I be a role-model for my athletes, young people, my own children, if I continue with those grudges--isn't it better to show forgiveness, maybe even pity? So I've been trying to let those go--and it's not easy. It's necessary, but I feel like I'm trying to buck something hard-wired into me. I know that's not true. I got this way, so I can reverse-engineer my way out of it, but I'm not there yet, probably won't make it by the solstice or Easter or Passover, but I'll keep trying.
There's a good deal of wisdom in places like the Bible or Koran, in words of wisdom from men like the Dalai Lama (or John Marsaglia). I suppose I need to be more mindful of people. Like I said, I'm not there, but I'm trying....I'm tryin....
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