My Beloved Brother
It has been 47 years now since my brother died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage in June of 1974. My memories of him are still so fresh and clear that it is really difficult to believe that forty-seven years have passed by since he died so unexpectedly due to a burst brain aneurism. Even though his body stopped working, I sense that his spirit, his energy, still lives on in “the great beyond”. I felt at the time of his death that there had to have been some colossal celestial bureaucratic error somewhere regarding his death. He had so much good to give to this world. One time I had a random conversation with a shop owner and the discussion breifly veered to what happens to us after we die. He looked at me with eyes that had seen suffering and said, “All I want when I get there is some answers”. Yeah, me too.
Growing Up Together
My brother and I were three years apart in age. He was born in 1950 while my year of birth was 1953. As we grew up together in that era of the 1950’s and 1960’s, we experienced a lot of things together and shared a lot in life together, even sharing a bed in our bedroom until I was about seven or eight years old or so. (“move over, you’re on my side”). As time went on, we both developed our different skills and personalities, strengths and weaknesses. As human beings, created in the image of the Almighty, we get the opportunity in our lifetime to demonstrate the presence of God within us (the Kingdom of God). We do this through expressing attributes of the Divine. Among these are love, intelligence, light, truth, beauty, abundance, power, compassion, peace, joy, imagination and creativity. My brother demonstrated these in his life. Like the conclusion in the book of Job, I can only acknowledge my ignorance of the divine perspective of Universal Supreme Intelligence. Maybe however, there should be some type of cosmic option whereby we are forewarned when someone we love is going to die to allow us the opporunity to at least make the offer to the grim reaper to substitute our life for theirs.
A Man of Substance
What does it mean to be a man or a woman of substance? Everybody has their own definition. A person of true substance is is defined by an ongoing series of life choices followed by actions to implement those choices. Every day…every hour…every minute…a person makes conscious choices and then engages in actions to support those choices. What must be done now versus what can wait. Playing it safe through avoiding risks versus taking risks and opening the door to the possibility of failure. Conforming yourself to the culture in which you live versus being true to your inner self in every situation regardless of possible consequences. Being the center of your universe versus being a part of a greater good. To give you a prime example of a person of substance that many are familiar with, I put forth the person of Atticus Finch from the novel and film, “To Kill A Mockingbird”.
Carl Jung
Let’s take a look at this statement from Carl 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 perserverance, 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 look at those people who outwardly appear to be men or women of substance, oftentimes you find self-seeking egotists. Read that quote from Jung again. Men or women of true substance are often closer than you think.
The Right Choices
In my brother’s life, I believe he made the right choices. He was a man of true substance. I was privileged to be his brother for the twenty-three years that he was on this earth. The bottom line of one’s lifetime when you reach the end of it comes down to this — Did you give more than you received — Did you enhance rather than subtract — Did you fully use what you were rather than waste what you had. Right now, wherever you are in your life journey, you have a choice. You can either be a human being of true substance or a human being of smoke and mirrors, masks and shadows. Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, making the choice to be a person of substance while you proceed with your lifetime on this planet will greatly enrich and enhance your precious life experience. The choice is always yours. Which do you choose?