DYING GRACEFULLY
(from the heart of IAPH)
This pic is the front cover of the first in our “Marriage” Series, co-authored by Bourne & I.
It’s ready for publication on Friday, June 7, 2024 — the 40th year Anniversary
of the birth & death of our 1st set of twins (30 & 31 minutes old, respectively),
Victor Emanuel & Vincent Emanuel!!
Thanks for encouraging us to write the book.
POSTING for Sunday, March 3rd - Saturday, March 16th, 2024
〰️
POSTING for Sunday, March 3rd - Saturday, March 16th, 2024 〰️
Dear Facebook Family, today Whitbourne and I soberly speak about death as an almost inevitable reality. “Living Life” was our last topic, and this post’s topic is “DYING GRACEFULLY”. Perhaps these thoughts are precipitated by our nephew's transition. Our hearts are in pain for his and his wife’s earthly separation. Journeying with them has given us deep insight into the kind of love that stands the test of living and dying.
We watched them navigate the following vows taken during their wedding ceremony. “‘To have and to hold from this day forward’…‘to have’ is a promise that you intimately and exclusively belong to each other. It’s for that person to know that having you means a full sense of pure, undiluted commitment in wedlock. ‘To hold’ is the commitment to be there for each other in affection and tenderness. It’s the physical and mental support for one another.
‘For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health’…relevant today as it was over 500 years ago, this vow is a hugely important promise. It highlights that even though life may not always go as planned, you will rest united and continue to support one another. ‘In the presence of God I make this vow’…is where you commit to making the vow in the presence of the greater good. You vow a responsibility not only between the two of you but also to love, to life and to your community” (https://www.pyneshouse.co.uk/blog/traditional-religious-wedding-vows/).
Referenced from 1 Samuel 7:12, “We raise an Ebenezer” to marriage as it should be. Marriage is for both LIVING AND DYING, with LOVE as its focus. Let’s keep in mind EVERY DAY that we are not promised tomorrow with our partner. Let’s live together TODAY as if it were our last day. Feel, experience, see, handle, and embrace your partner, who fills your heart and soul with the highest measure of ecstasy and indescribable sensation. DEATH is inevitable as a human transition, so allow the reality to cause us to ENGAGE LIFE now as we prepare for our exits. Let’s join the conversation ON DEATH. Your contribution in the next 14 days can enrich our global family, and that's what friends are for.
