Life, Death & Funerals.

I have had heart issues for years & am now on my 3rd pacemaker. I've just spent 3 days in Cardiology in hospital having emergency surgery. Currently I can't drive or do much with my left arm. But thanks to the NHS, which, whatever it's problems, cares for acute patients amazingly, I am waking up each morning & functioning independently. The average survival after pacemaker implantation was 99.4 months (about 8.3 years). So I'm doing well, I've had one for 14 years.

Being alive seems to be the point as far as I can see. Those of us who have a life to live without war, famine, deprivation & all the ills besetting so many people in the world now, we are very lucky. Unfortunately it is all too easy to take our life for granted & not do very much with it. What is the point of a life if the living don't contribute something to the greater good? Maybe we should all think about the legacy we will leave behind before it's too late. Possibly we should keep a running tally of the good & the bad things we do day to day & try to make sure there is a positive balance.

Not everyone can do something really impressive, like invent a vaccine. But everyone can make someone elses life a little better. Everyone can care & be kind. Everyone can stand up for truth, peace & justice.

A friends husband has just died & I will go to his funeral this week. There is so much death in our world today that I worry that we will just become inured to it. Treat the news coverage like a CGI film. We are all dying. It's normal. I'm truly not afraid of illness or dying. The only thing that does bother me is the thought of dying alone in my house & being unable to contact anyone. The unacceptable face of death is what is happening today in places like Palestine, Yemen, Ukraine, Syria & Israel...... 

Grieving & Funerals vary a lot around the world. There are cultural differences. In the Middle East burial takes place as quickly as possible after death. The body is washed and covered with a sheet by family members. Here that is handled by undertakers. Family & friends attend the service, but are largely passive.

There is no right or wrong way to grieve or deal with the dead. There is only a right or wrong way to live ones life.