Having returned from New Orleans, after almost a week of funeral preparations and then the ceremony to celebrate the life of my goddaughter Amanda, love is much on my mind and in my heart. I already know there is no sense in trying to decipher why one individual dies and yet other lives; this is the mystery behind the curtain. We don't get the answers until we leave the stage. But in the meantime, our losses remind us, by shaking us to the core: we are love manifest.
Looking at at the huge crowd inside the white clapboard church, the scene was much as I had imagined it. An overflowing crowd of all ages, colors, shapes, sizes, and sexes of humanity.
I tried for days to find the right word or phrase to describe Amanda. After much deliberation what came to me was the phrase "master builder". She didn't build with ordinary tools. There was no hammer, no drill, not even nails. She created her breathtaking structure with an open heart and a generous spirit. With those tools, Amanda formed a huge home, not built of wood but of people. Hearts. Lives. Stories. So many sharings. Such a banquet. These breathing lives well lived, this community, became the windows, doors, walls, ceilings, floors and of course, the foundation. One relationship at a time, knitted together through her existence. She built it and then, somehow satisfied with this masterful effort, her spirit moved on. Now, we are left to cherish what she she accomplished.
There are some who say that we are all given a certain amount of heartbeats. No less. No more. I ask you, what is it that you spend your heartbeats on? What makes you feel? Where are your passions? What do you love? How do you express affection? Are you caring? Is your heart open? Do you express love and concern with those who surround you? Are you generous with your time, your energies, your essence? This gift of life is our authentic wealth. Carefully consider when you withdrawal from your personal account of heartbeats. Make them count, for you, for others. I know I will be. I hope you will join me and make this world a place that glimmers. I will repeat: We are love, manifested. Isn't that amazing?
Become a master builder. Open your emotions wide and embrace life. Acknowledge your blessings and give gratitude for every single minute that you have on this bittersweet place. It is here that we are spending such great wealth and building castles that stretch into the sky, with one expression of empathy at a time.
