As we enter our “later years,” there are three messengers that come knocking at our door. Looking through our door’s peephole we see old age, illness, and death standing on our porch.
When these messengers arrive, and they will arrive at every home, we have a choice to make. Do we open the door, welcome them, and receive the wisdom they bring, or will we bar the door, curse them, and hide?
Except for the occasional wise Elder, no one teaches us how to welcome and heed these three messengers.
The world’s spiritual traditions teach that the best way to welcome the messengers of old age, illness, and death is with clear, quiet awareness.
Author and blogger, Carol Osborn, says, “Don’t wait to start your spiritual practice until it’s too late. We need that clear, quiet awareness to center us in the midst of the hits that keep coming with age.” (The Inner Work of Age. Shifting from Role to Soul, Connie Zweig, p. 23)
As musician and singer, Peter Mayer sings, old age, illness, and death, make cracks in our body and soul. What do we fill the cracks with?
I’m like one of those Japanese bowls
That were made long ago
I have some cracks in me
They have been filled with gold
That’s what they used back then
When they had a bowl to mend
It did not hide the cracks
It made them shine instead
So now every old scar shows
From every time I broke
And anyone’s eyes can see
I’m not what I used to be
But in a collector’s mind
All of these jagged lines
Make me more beautiful
And worth a much higher price
I’m like one of those Japanese bowls
I was made long ago
I have some cracks, you can see
See how they shine of gold.
From “Heaven Below”
Old age, illness, and death invite us to fill the cracks they make in body and soul with wisdom gained from clear-eyed reflection on our lives. Will we open our door to them?