On Faithful Living and Dying

After the recent loss of my paternal grandmother, I find myself thinking about what constitutes a life well-lived, and a death well-died.  When we're looking back at a life, especially a very long life, what "counts"?  What do we focus on as the essence of a person's existence?  Are we permitted to include not only virtues, but vices and flaws as well?  Do we look at the uncorrupted years of youth?  Or middle-adulthood, when one's career was in full swing?  Or do we fixate on the last days and the manner of death?  Does dying well make up for a life lived poorly?  Does dying poorly trump a life lived well?

I suppose the most fitting response to the question "What counts?" is yet another question: "For whom?"  The individual herself?  Those of us left behind?  God?  And I've come to believe that it's never too early to ask these questions.  What is it that is most meaningful in my life?  In what ways is my life meaningful to others?  Am I spending my time and energy doing what I really feel called to do?  How do I hope my loved ones will respond to my absence?

As always, it's easier to ask the probing questions than to answer them... especially since these are questions that only we can answer for ourselves.  But as a community of faith, we are graced with individuals in our lives who can help us to discern our gifts and passions, our fears and our growing edges.  We are called to be resources for each other, to be mirrors of God's image, to inspire and to be inspired.  And if one thing is certain, it is that we cannot do these things alone.