I noticed that Jewish people say 'May you have a long life' to mourners... at first I was taken aback, feeling that was the worst thing to wish for me. A long life of pain and suffering..? Andrew did some research though and established that in Judaism, there is a custom of wishing “long life” to mourners. The original Hebrew blessing actually means “may you have long days” and he found a nice explanation of this.
“Some of us are blessed with long lives, some not. But we can all have long days. A long day is a day full of meaning, a day spent doing good, spreading happiness and fulfilling a purpose. A day of giving and loving, learning and teaching, building spirits and lifting souls - that is a long day. Some achieve in a short lifetime what others never get around to doing. The difference is not how you spend your life, but how you spend your day. We don't choose how many days we live, but we can choose how we live our days. The length of our days is not measured in hours on the clock, but in beats of the heart, not in minutes, but in mitzvahs [good deeds]. When we suffer the loss of a loved one, we become more sharply aware of how precious just one day can be. A wasted day is an eternity lost. And a day well spent can have an eternal impact. Yes, there's always tomorrow, but there's only one today. And we have many lifetimes, but this one we only live once. Don't wait for tomorrow. Time is short, make today a long day.”
Well I can say with absolute certainty that Natey had long days. The longest of days. That boy squeezed every minute out of his days.
“Some of us are blessed with long lives, some not. But we can all have long days. A long day is a day full of meaning, a day spent doing good, spreading happiness and fulfilling a purpose. A day of giving and loving, learning and teaching, building spirits and lifting souls - that is a long day. Some achieve in a short lifetime what others never get around to doing. The difference is not how you spend your life, but how you spend your day. We don't choose how many days we live, but we can choose how we live our days. The length of our days is not measured in hours on the clock, but in beats of the heart, not in minutes, but in mitzvahs [good deeds]. When we suffer the loss of a loved one, we become more sharply aware of how precious just one day can be. A wasted day is an eternity lost. And a day well spent can have an eternal impact. Yes, there's always tomorrow, but there's only one today. And we have many lifetimes, but this one we only live once. Don't wait for tomorrow. Time is short, make today a long day.”
Well I can say with absolute certainty that Natey had long days. The longest of days. That boy squeezed every minute out of his days.
Jane, I can't read any of your posts without being in a puddle of tears. I don't know you, but your story has affected me greatly. I am sending a universe of love and prayers to you all.
ReplyDelete