A reflection on perpetual light, la divina lúz
This Blessing Way column is En Memoriam to all those in our area and in our world at large who have passed away from life and in consolation to the families who remain in grief and mourning for the loss of our loved ones. The lethal COVID19 virus pandemic continues to exact a mounting death toll among us, along with the many who have passed on from other illness, by accident, by violence, as victims of war, by suicide and the inexhaustible range of causes, including “natural” death.
When our loved ones have died, by whatever cause, their passing is mourned and most everyone tries in some way to comfort and help their families, normally through our traditional and customary ways. We all know that an end to life in this world will come for every person, and we go on with our lives nevertheless knowing that there is an almost-unfathomable mystery in the process of life and existence. And part of the mystery is that most people live as if in the hope or preternatural expectation of a continuation of life in eternity in another form and in a different realm, after our present life as we know it is over.
There is abundant evidence that the mystery of life does carry our existence past the end here; and most people pray and otherwise express our hope for the wellbeing of the souls of our fellow human beings in the world that comes after this one.
At some time or another, the name of every person now living will be memorialized after they are gone, except for the names of those in our world who are forgotten even now while they are still living. For there are many who are born into our world with not even a chance at life, and whose existence, either of very brief or even somewhat longer duration, are simply not noticed by anyone else.
For all the deceased whose names will be memorialized and remembered, and for all the nameless and forgotten, of our brothers and sisters who have passed on, we say here: “All-powerful Creator, the Most High, whose mercy is never withheld from those who call on you in hope, look kindly on these and us, your children at that appointed hour when we are freed from the bonds of mortality and grant everlasting life, and let your perpetual light shine upon us all.”
Some of us will be ready for that appointed hour. Some of us will not be ready. Some of us will be unafraid when the time comes. Some of us will be very afraid of dying. I have been witness and present at those deathbed scenarios, and I recall that at least one person, Manuelita Pacheco, was seemingly spiritually prepared and not afraid. When the actual moment came for her, she simply said, “’Bye” in a soft voice, and crossed over.
But yet her family and friends, like the families and friends of all who have died and will die, the “survivors” need consolation, comforting, reassurance and much support to deal with the loss of our loved one. We know that it can be extremely difficult for us all.
It is all of course a very old story, the mystery, the questions, even the fear of death. In very ancient times the philosopher Socrates wrote this about the subject:
“To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not. For it is to think one knows what one does not know.
No one knows whether death may not even turn out to be one of the greatest blessings of human beings. And yet people fear it as if they know for certain it is the greatest evil.”
There is much more knowledge now about our dying and about an afterlife. There is a documented body of countless accounts and reports about the so-called “Near Death Experiences” by people who have died and entered another and beautiful or pleasing realm (or, by the same token, a ‘hellish’ one) but were “directed back” to earthly life. These reports are from nearly every religious and nonreligious experience, from every ethnic and cultural background, from every spiritual persuasion and at every stage and age in our history.
May the divine light, la Divina Lúz, illumine us the living, and may the perpetual light, la Luz Perpetua, shine upon our beloved deceased, as blessing of the Most High.
David A. Fernández de Taos