The world begins anew with every birth, my father used to say. He forgot to say, with every death it ends. Or did not think he needed to. Because for a goodly part of his life he worked in a graveyard.
Interpretation
Life is cyclic; every new birth signifies a new beginning, while each death signifies an ending.
This quote reflects on the cyclical nature of life, emphasizing that every birth represents the start of a new journey, while every death symbolizes the conclusion of another. The author's father's perspective, shaped by his experiences in a graveyard, suggests that he recognized the profound interconnection between life and death, yet perhaps chose to focus solely on the beauty of new beginnings without pondering the inevitability of endings.
In practice
In a eulogy, this quote can remind attendees of the cyclical nature of life.
It is funny, but it strikes me that a person without anecdotes that they nurse while they live, and that survive them, are more likely to be utterly lost not only to history but the family following them. Of course this is the fate of most souls, reducing entire lives, no matter how vivid and wonderful, to those sad black names on withering family trees, with half a date dangling after and a question mark.
What is the sound of an eighty-nine-year-old heart breaking?
He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him, but the ones who went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.
Where do one's fears come from? Where do they shape themselves? Where do they hide before coming out into the open?
The cross is the surest, truest and deepest window on the very heart and character of the living and loving God.
I find it very difficult to think of mistakes; not that I don't make any but because I was brought up to look only at the good things in life ... As for what lost the most money, probably Virgin Cola. It is still No 1 in Bangladesh though.
A few years ago, a priest working in a slum section of a European city was asked why he was doing it, and replied, 'So that the rumor of God may not completely disappear.
If there were nothing but thought in you, you wouldn't even know you are thinking. You would be like a dreamer who doesn't know he is dreaming. When you know you are dreaming, you are awake within the dream.
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