My Much Loved Brother
It has been forty eight years now since my brother left this realm. He died suddenly and unexpectedly from a cerebral hemorrhage in June of 1974. My memories of him are still so fresh and clear that it is difficult to grasp that forty eight years, over seventeen thousand days, have passed by since his death. Even though his body ceased to function, his spirit, his energy, his essence, lives on in another realm of existence. It will be a time of true, unshackled joy when, after my body stops working, we are reunited again in that next realm.
I felt, at the time of his death, that there had to be some colossal celestial blunder regarding his death. He possessed so much good to offer this oft-times crappy world. They say that we all have “a number” and when your number is called, it’s “game over”. In my mind, I thought some careless cosmic clerk must have called out the wrong damn number. At the time I would have gladly traded my life for his if I was given that option.
About fifteen, twenty years ago I had a random conversation with a shop owner. The conversation veered briefly to what happens to us after we die. The shop owner looked at me with eyes that had seen suffering and said, “All I want when I get there is some answers.” Amen brother, amen.
Growing Up Together
My brother and I were three years apart in age. He was born in 1950 while I came along three years later. We grew up together in the era of the 1950’s and 1960’s. We experienced many things together and shared a lot, even sharing a bed (“move over, you’re on my side”) until the early 60’s. My sister was born in October of ’59. When she outgrew her crib in my parents bedroom, she moved into our bedroom. Separate bedrooms for my brother and I were cobbled together upstairs in the attic.
As the years progressed, we both developed our individual skills and personalities, our own strengths and our own weaknesses. We had our little squabbles as do all brothers, but we always remained close and loyal to each other. When he got involved in high school activities and later went away to college, I saw less of him but the brotherly bonds of affection were never in jeopardy.
Demonstrating The Presence Of God
As human beings, created in the image of the Almighty, we are privileged in this lifetime to get the opportunity to demonstrate the presence of God within us (the Kingdom of God within, Luke 17:21, KJV). We demonstrate by expressing different high frequency energy sequences emanating from the Divine – love, peace, light, intelligence, truth, abundance, power, compassion, imagination, creativity, impartiality, inner joy. Throughout his life, at one time or another, he demonstrated all of these. My brother had flaws as does every other human being. That he was a person of substance is not a hagiographic statement but merely a statement of fact based on my first hand observations. He was not just loved by his family members. His funeral brought out a multitude of souls who held him in esteem.
Riding In The Same Car As Job
The book of Job is a fascinating study in human emotions. I have always thought that there was more to it than meets the eye, namely a deeper meaning below the surface meaning. There is scarcely any suffering that a human can experience that the principal human in that book, Job, did not experience. Job pleads his case with raw honesty about the gross injustice of it all but refuses to curse God.
In chapter 28 Job states, ” Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? ……. it is hid from the eyes of all living”. There it is in a nutshell. Until I proceed to the next realm, I will never know the why of the timing of his death. With that said, the rebellious part of me still feels that there should be some type of cosmic option whereby we are forewarned when someone we love is going to die to allow us the opportunity to make the offer to the grim reaper to substitute our life for theirs.
A Person Of Substance
What does it mean to be a person of substance. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the wealth you possess, the possessions you own, or the level of control you exert over others. If you take a look at our current crop of politicians, you can see what being a person of substance is not. A person of substance is defined by a series of lifelong choices, followed by actions to implement those choices. These are choices that add value to the world rather than subtract or merely present a neutral presence. Choices and actions, done either consciously or unconsciously, that demonstrate the presence and glory of Divine Love and Ultimate Intelligence. Deciding what must be done now versus what can wait. Deciding whether to err on the side of caution or to take a risk and potentially opening the door to failure. Conforming yourself harmoniously to the dictates of the culture in which you live versus being true to your inner self regardless of possible repercussions. Being the center of your universe versus being a part of the big picture of universal greater good. To know a person of substance is a delight to the soul.
Carl Jung
Carl Jung is recognized as one of the most influential psychiatrists of all time. He founded analytical psychology and was among the first experts in his field to explore the religious nature behind human psychology.
Let’s take a look at this statement from Jung: “In this overpoweringly humdrum existence, alas, there is little out of the ordinary that is healthy, and not much room for conspicuous heroism. Not that heroic demands are never put to us, on the contrary – and this is just so irritating and irksome – the banal everyday makes banal demands upon our patience, our devotion, our perseverance, our self-sacrifice, and for us to fulfill these demands (as we must) humbly and without courting applause through heroic gestures, a heroism is needed that cannot be seen from the outside. It does not glitter. It is not belauded, it always seeks concealment in everyday attire”.
If you take a close look at those who outwardly appear to be people of substance, oftentimes times what you find is a self-seeking egotist. Read that statement again from Carl Jung. True men and women of substance are often much closer than you think.
The Right Choices
In my brother’s life, I believe that he substantially made the right choices. He was a true man of substance. I was privileged to be his brother for the twenty-three plus years that he was on this earth. The bottom line of your lifetime when you reach the end of it comes down to this – Did you enhance life rather than subtract? – Did you fully use what you had to work with rather than waste what you had? – Did you give more than you received?
Wherever you are on your life journey, you have a choice. You can either be a human being of substance or a human being of smoke and mirrors, masks and shadows, illusions and facades. Whether or not you believe in an afterlife, making the choice to be a person of substance while you proceed with the remainder of your lifetime on this planet, will greatly enrich and enhance your life experience. The choice is yours. It always has been. Which do you choose?