"Yes to the Universe"
A Responsive Reading in Celebration of Deathby Connie Barlow (March 2005)
Stars are born, and stars die. Along the way these stars fashion the very atoms of our bodies.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Mountains are born, and mountains die. Along the way these mountains create the particles of sand and clay that blend with dead plants to become soil.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Glaciers come and glaciers go. Along the way they grind rocks into new soil and sculpt ponds and lakes.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Species come and species go. Along this odyssey of evolution, marvels emerge: eyes, limbs, feathers, song, terror, love.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Cells are born, and cells die. Along the way, the winnowing yields fingers and toes, fins and wings, and the miracle of healing from injury.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Forests of cells are born and die, but not let go. Along the way, these ancestor cells stiffen into wood of uncommon strength and endurance, allowing the living green cells to reach for the sky.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Baby animals are born in abundance, and myriad plant seeds are cast to the wind. Along the way most of these children become food, supporting the vast ecological web of life.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Humans are born, and humans die. Along the way each may blossom with love, and accrue wisdom as elders, and then by their passing make room for generations of children now and forevermore.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Ideas are born, and ideas die. Along the way they nourish the human journey, onward, inward, and outward, in an arc of wonder that now embraces a hundred billion galaxies.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Love comes, and love fades, dies, or endures. Along the way we experience the richness of existence, sanctified by laughter and tears.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?Each of us is born, and each of us will die. Along the way our awareness of death urges us to live fully, to give fully, and to take not one moment for granted.
— Is this a universe we say Yes to?
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