RI Radio, and thanks
A proper update in a day or two, but RI radio is officially launched today, and can be heard here. It's an eclectic 10-hour mix, featuring something to annoy everyone. I'll try to rotate a few songs a week to freshen things up a little. If you enjoy the station, please consider supporting it with a donation as you are able.
And thanks very much for your messages of sympathy. My mother passed away peacefully Saturday afternoon.
And thanks very much for your messages of sympathy. My mother passed away peacefully Saturday afternoon.
posted by Jeff Wells at 12:30 a.m.
24 Comments:
Jeff:
As time goes by and you grieve, be aware of how your worldview might evolve as this very important relationship in your life changes and evolves as well.
Godspeed.
"Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not."
Epicurus
"How do I know that the love of life is not a delusion; and that the dislike of death is not like a child that is lost and does not know the way home?"
Chuang Tzu
Your mother's work is done here, but her legacy is woven like threads through your own life, and therefore through the lives of those you inform, inspire and provoke. In thanking you for your work, I also thank her.
My condolences in your time of sadness.
ditto the sentiments here. Those are great quotes... The one by Epicurus has been how I used to think about it, and how I wish to keep on thinking about it.
The one by Chuang Tzu is totally intriguing...
-ouhite
It is always hard to lose one's mother, no matter the quality of the relationship. Please accept my deepest sympathies. Connut
Damn, Jeff, life can be so hard sometimes.
Please accept my condolences.
My good friend August Wilson, the brilliant and wonderful playwright, also passed away this weekend of cancer and so I am very sad today.
Maybe they will meet at the pearly gates or whatever bardo experience awaits.
My fury at the medical extablishment, corporate fascism and the radioactive/chemical pollution of our total environment which is contributing to this plague knows no bounds.
We must keep up the struggle and carry on.
My thoughts are with you.
From an avid reader(not poster), the loss of of one means the life another. I learned that when my youngest daughter was in the hospital being diagnosed with RSV and my grandfather was brought into emergency with pain in the groin. I had my talk with him and he asked how Ciera was,I assured him she was ok and was to receive treatment. So he told me to make sure the girls(my 2 daughters)are taken care of[sic], which I assured him of. He had an heart aneurysm that had burst and he pass on while the youngest was being help.
It all happens for reasons we are still trying to digest.
Thanks for your posts Jeff!
Please accept my deepest sympathies.
Somebody
My deepest sympathy for you and your family, Jeff. What a tower of strength you are. Life works out in strange and mysterious ways as we are witness to the birth of your child nearly coinciding with the passing of your mother.
Take some measure in comfort in knowing that the "good god(s)" are surely watching and guiding you.
Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Kahlil Gibran -- "The Prophet: On Death"
Having lost both my own parents, and as a cancer survivor am the only one left now from my support group, I've learned that mourning takes a lot longer than people think, especially in our quickie, pop-psych-laden culture where you get three days off for a funeral, if you're lucky. Other cultures are wiser in knowing what grieving is all about. I went to my first Iranian funeral a few years ago and while the younger Americanized kids were embarassed by the dead man's elderly sister's keening and throwing herself in the grave, I'm sure she felt better afterward than the rest of us 'stiff upper lip', 'modern' types did. Give yourself all the time you need and follow your own heart in what you have to do to heal. I actually had someone say the year my mother died "But she died six months ago! Aren't you over that yet?" She was my mother for 33 years...no, I wasn't. Mourning takes as long as it takes.
Gone to the Unseen
At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?
Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.
As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.
The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.
This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.
You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?
I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!
O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.
The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.
Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .
Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.
Jalal al Din Rumi
Something to contemplate.
Whilst official science can often wax lyrically of the finite nature of death in physical terms, and link that to the spiritual, it simply cannot prove it.
On the other hand, there are a trillion different examples of after death phenomena and manifestations, which those scientists in the "death is finite camp cannot rationally explain either.
My conclusions ? Death is not the end, and this mortal physical ( lowest energy vibrational ) coil is but a vessel.
Jeff:
Your mother did a good job of bringing you up! You will miss her.
Gilda92
I'm sure it's little comfort in this time of sorrow, but you are in my thoughts. The loss will never go away, but in time you will be able to bear it. Your mother will continue to watch over you.
You have made a lot of good friends here, and we are all grateful for your Work. I capitalize it because it is important. Take care of yourself!
My sympathies, Jeff.
Thank you again for RI.
--Richard
Jeff,
I'm so sorry! Bless you and your family!
Mary C.
My condolences to you and your family Jeff.
My most sincere condolences for your loss.
My sentiments for your mother are best echoed by what Alice wrote...
Keep going in your quest, for I am certain your mother would want you to keep doing what you love.
Jeff,
My deepest sympathies to you and your family.
Sending good vibes, hugs and hopefully some words of comfort...
Death is nothing at all
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you,
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,
wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow,
laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Pray smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
without the trace of a shadow in it.
Life means all that it ever meant,
it is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity,
why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you
somewhere very near
just around the corner.
All is well
By Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)
Canon of St Paul's Cathedral
my sincerest sympathy. for any parent, the worst fear is that they will survive their child. that means we children must deal with the grief of losing our mother and father. The best gift we can give them is to do well and honor what they taught us.
My condolences and best wishes to you and your family.
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