I was reading an article this morning that a friend had left on my desk for me. It is an interview with Raymond Barfield…Dr. Raymond Barfield, pediatric oncologist, author, musician, professor of theology and medicine at Duke University…yes, theology AND medicine. You can read it in The Sun Magazine, January 2016 edition. I found that what he has to say about being a doctor is important, not only for doctors but also for patients and families of patients.
As a pediatric oncologist Barfield has seen his share of death…the death of small children suffering with cancer. In his own spiritual growth he has come to understand this: “…the regular experience of death is one way to stop being forgetful and inattentive and just be grateful.” This wisdom extends beyond the hospital to…YOU!
We don’t need to experience many painful deaths of those we love in order to show up to life wide awake. We can use the one hundred percent guarantee that we will die, some day, to shift our thinking and being and doing in a direction of grateful….grateful for everything especially the small and the mundane. Look up from this blog right now and feel and see what it is you are grateful for in this moment. If you knew this was the last time you would experience ‘this’ what would you cherish? How would you soften? What would you do next? Who would you call?
If this was your last day in the world what would hold your attention? How would you treat those you encounter? We shouldn’t fear dying…we should use the inevitability to be the best we can be, the happiest, the most passionate. We should allow it to motivate us to take a chance, to live our dream, to risk greatness!
I believe you are here to express and offer a special something. In this human form, in this body…you do not have forever to live. Use death as your advisor…what is it telling you?
Much, much love
Paula
