I Look Death in the Eye (page 2)

somebody

COMF,

I had to keep taking breaks from reading, because my stomach was turning. but know that I finished, I want to say that the post was GREAT! thank you!

peace,
somebody

expatbrit

COMF:

Whew!!

I can only echo others: glad you're still with us!

Expatbrit

WOW! I'm with TeeJay in wanting to re-read and digest your account.
I was thinking how nice it was that this forum was here for you to be able to write it all down and know that the other posters would be interested and moved by your experience.

I have never had to "look death in the eye" myself. But I have understood long ago, perhaps as the result of the number of unexplained, "just dropped dead!" deaths in my life which included both my sister and her 2 year old son, and a little 12 year old girl that I used to coach in cheerleading, that life is fragile and that it is not to be wasted.

It's something that I need to remind myself of, or be reminded of, from time to time. My life could be worse. Someone else I love could be gone one hour from now. Hell, I could be gone five minutes from now! And the world would go on.

How can I make my life more meaningful -- NOW -- Today? How can I ease the pain of my passing for those I leave behind?

Thank you for the reminder. Point taken.

Take care,
outnfree

Francois

Do any of you read Camille Paglia in Salon.com? She's really great with an acerbic wit and a pen as sharp as her eye.

She says what COMF says, but says it in an ever bigger, scarier way. She says that the social institutions that hold us all together are as delicate as gossamer and that if don't stop pushing them to the limit, we may wake up one day to find ourselves in another dark age. This one sponsored by the government as opposed to the church. Now if that's not enough to jar your preserves, I don't know what is.

One example of this pushing to the limits was the recent election fiasco in Florida. I was scared to death there were going to be troups in the streets over that one, along with crowds of rioting people and more trouble than all the civil rights stuff from the fifties and sixties put together. Scary, damn scary. Perhaps you should pop into salon.com and see what ol' Camille has been saying. It ain't nearly as stable out there as we think.

Francois - of the scared shitless class

jimmyjames

: In writing this, I fear I've failed to effectively capture the dispair, the hopelessness, the sense of irrelevance that washed through me

Not at all, COMF. Let me tell you something: That post was an amazing window into what happened, and to be honest, I couldn't stop reading it. You had a great opportunity to experience feelings and insights that everyone has had in passing but rarely delved very deeply into or marinated in for very long. I think life is really about those small moments of total cosmic clarity and understanding that happen few and far between during the hum-drum reality of day-to-day life from the time we're born until we go.

I'm glad you made it through your ordeal COMF, and thank you for sharing it with the board. I hope one day I'll be half the writer you are.

Jim

Tina

(((((((((((((((((capn)))))))))))))))))))))) T

Carl Sagan on balancing openness to new ideas with skeptical scrutiny...."if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense,you cannot distinguish useful ideas from worthless ones."

XJWBill

A powerful story and very well-written, Comf. All of Ecclesiastes 9 seems to fit what you are trying to say here, as well as the experiences related by the other folks who have shared. Thanks, guys.

Francois' point is well-taken, too. All of life, individual and corporate, hangs by a thread, turns on a dime--"Fragile: Handle With Care."

Peace,

Bill

"If we all loved one another as much as we say we love God, I reckon there wouldn't be as much meanness in the world as there is."--from the movie Resurrection (1979)

wasasister

I can relate.

About 7 years ago, I came near death from e-coli poisoning. None of the excellent health-care providers had a clue why the deadly virus attacked an ovary, rather than an organ in my digestive system. I spent ten excruciating days on an antibiotic cocktail which collapsed my veins and left me looking like a herion addict. By the last day, I was reduced to tears when the IV specialist had to be called just to find a location to insert the needle.

I recall quite clearly the sudden, jerky awakening from the morphine-induced stupor which passes for sleep. Time does get distorted. I was a devoted Witness then, and would have considered it an honor to have died rather than accept a blood transfusion. Thankfully, it did not come to that extreme.

I'm most grateful we survived to find ourselves at this point. Perhaps we have both gained a perspective and an appreciation for each moment we are granted.

Cheers,
Wasa/Isa

SixofNine

Wow, I feel bad. Had I known, I would have brought you a fruit basket or something. Taken your old lady out to a movie, pretended to be the commanding "blood liason" officer for your cult, sumthin' useful.

Glad you stuck around. Nice to be able to pull the truly wise scriptures out and dust them off every now and then. Get bettererist.

Prisca

(((hug)))

I was with you in the ER there as you described the story, albeit a bit too graphic while I was eating my lunch, LOL!

glad you are still with us COMF

I Look Death in the Eye

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