MAN, THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Franz Winkler wrote an anthroposophical book by this title. I just had the pleasure of hearing part of a conversation between my friend G. and his old father. G.'s father was falling asleep during the conversation, and he was describing that he was caught in a dream of walking down a garden path. In his dream he didn't know where he was going, but it wasn't really an unpleasant experience.

We know where he is going. From my experience with my parents, I can guess that pretty soon he will see familiar and beloved people in the garden and that will help him be more comfortable going to the other side. My mother saw her mother the week before she died and was so happy she almost jumped out of bed to hug her. Her body could no longer jump but her spirit was very agile.

Once, when my father was laid up, he was resting by a window and the world was deeply covered in snow, he described seeing a lovely doe come to the window and a golden retriever come bounding out and the doe and the dog went happily off through the snow. I asked him what that was about. He replied that he was the dog and my mother was the deer, and she was coming to collect him. Perfect.

I think often we who are not yet there on the bridge between two worlds are the one who would feel more comfortable bringing the dying person back to reality. "No, Sheila, your mother has been dead for years." How could we dare to do that? I think it is an honor and a teaching experience to be in the presence of someone for whom the veil is so thin as to no longer serve as a boundary.

You have to hold onto your hat a bit, because the temptation to let go of our earthly existence is compelling to some of us. But we can do this through meditation and  contemplation, in a conscious act. For the dying person it is a time of transition. Some of us are at ease with transitions, some of us fight them vigorously, both for ourselves and others.

That wonderful, time tested, measure of a true reaction, "What would LOVE do in this situation?" is certainly appropriate at a time like this. LOVE would have to be deeply involved already to give us this good karma.