Lenten Reflection

[loklok]

It’s the Lenten season, the best time for us to reflect on our mortality.

It’s the time to visit our beloved ones; Here in Tago and every where else in the country to spend the Holy Week minus a member of our family, and the following quotation, poem and verse might help lighten the burden. Personal reflection, thinking things on our past and to the future. (Allow me to share some thoughts of feeling which I read and do a little editing.)
From Gen. George Patton Jr. (sent by reader Ivy M. Avino): It is wrong and foolish to mourn the men who died...It is rather that we should thank God that such men lived.Meanwhile, reader Ed Dames shares with his fellow Funfare readers a poem which he said he “personalized for Francis.”
Go Down, Death!*
By James Weldon Johnson
Weep not, weep not
He is not dead
He’s resting in the bosom of Jesus
Heart-broken wife — weep no more
Grief-stricken sons and daughters — weep no more
He’s only just gone home.

Early Tuesday morning
God was looking down from His great, high heavens
Looking down on all His children
And His eyes fell on papa Greg
Tossing on his bed of pain
And God’s big heart was touched with pity
With the everlasting pity

And God sat back on His throne
And He commanded that tall, bright angel
Standing on His right hand
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder
Call Death! Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the street of heaven
Till it reached away back, back to that shadowy place
Where Death waits with his pale, white horse.

And Death heard the summons
And he leaped on his fastest horse
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight
Up the golden street Death galloped
And hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold
But they didn’t make any sound
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne
And waited for God’s command

And God said, Go down, Death, go down
Go down to the Philippines
Down to Medical City in Pasig
And find my son Kiko Magalona
He has borne the burden and heat of the day
He has labored long in my vineyard
And he is tired
He is weary
Go down, Death, and bring him to me.

And Death did not say a word
But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse
And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides
And out and down he rode
Through heaven’s pearly gates
Past suns and moons and stars
On Death rode
And the foam from his horse was like a comet in the sky
On Death rode
Leaving the lightning’s flash behind
Straight down he came.

While his loving but tired wife held his hand
Kiko turned his eyes and looked away
He saw what we couldn’t see
He saw old Death. He saw old Death
Coming like a falling star
But Death didn’t frighten Kiko
He looked to him like a welcome friend
And even in silence his eyes told us: I’m going home
And he sighed and closed his eyes.

And Death took him up like a baby
And he lay in his icy arms
But he didn’t feel no chill
And Death began to ride again
Up beyond the evening star
Into the glittering light of glory
On to the Great White Throne
And there he lay
On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took His own hand and wiped away his tears
And He smoothed the furrows from his face
And the angels sang a little song
And Jesus rocked him in His arms
And kept-a-saying: Take your rest
Take your rest, take your rest

Weep not — weep not
He is not dead; we did not lose him
We know where he is
He is resting in the bosom of Jesus

(*personalized for FrancisM and applicable to all of us) And also from reader Ivy M. Avino, this verse which Funfare has published before but is worth re-reading.
Live A Life That Matters
Ready or not, someday it will come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned, or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from, or what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant;
Even your gender or your skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built;
Not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is your every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others — to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter are not how many people you knew,

But how many people will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter are not your memories,
But the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom, and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com) - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)