January 17, 2013

Thursdays with Morrie




I missed all of my classes the first week of school (because I decided to stay in Chicago for my uncle's death/wake/funeral) except for my Thursday 9:30 AM class (today). I almost skipped because I had gotten back to town late last night, had not bought any of my books, and had no way to prepare for class. For some reason, I kept feeling a nudge to attend class. I am soooo glad I listened to that "nudge" from the Holy Spirit because we watched the ending of Tuesdays with Morrie.
For those that have not seen it, this movie is about an dying elderly ex-professor teaching the important facts of life to one of his ex-students. I had seen it before in another class, but that did not stop the tears from flowing this time. I kept seeing flashbacks of my uncle and grandfather dying, especially since my uncle's funeral was yesterday. After class, I stayed to talk to my professor about missing class and the tears began to flow again. Thank goodness some sweet stranger gave me a tissue as she waited for her turn to talk with the professor or I don't think I could have finished that conversation. I consider my first day of class a success because I showed up and let God remind me of a few things about death.
This movie has so many profound quotes and life lessons but the one that stuck out the most to me is "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." My uncle died with his wife, children, extended family members and close friends around his bed praying with him and for him as he left this earth. He had people reminiscing of the old times, laughing, joking, crying and touching each other,  and saying thank you to him for living the way he did. Even though he did not want to die and leave his family behind, he knew how to die and where he was heading after death; therefore, he knew how to live.




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