Millions are touched by the death of a politician and the impending death of a CEO. Why such feelings?
Is it because they have been so successful? Maybe. Is it how hard they fought for life? Maybe. But don't we all fight to live?
I think what stands out is that they have also accepted their death and used this certain knowledge to energise the life left to them. This is unusal for our culture. We are death deniers.
Many of us submit totally to the medical model and their hopes that we will get better. In so doing, we give up our own power and we give in to denial. We and those close to us cling to false hope and so falsehood becomes our epitaph.
We lose the chance to have the kind of real and authentic communication with those that are close to us. In our death we live a lie. We so deny ourselves and others the clarity of truth that can come from a death that is accepted.
Jack Layton could not have been well in the last triumphant election. He made the choice to work for his country. Almost his last day, he was still working on what was best for his country. He used the threat and then the knowledge of his death as a source of energy. Energy for himself and for those around him. Now his death is a powerful energetic lingering resource for his party and for all of us who long and hope for a more just society. By living like this, he lives on in truth and so power.
Steve Jobs is still with us. But if we can see it, so can he. Charon attends closely. And what has he been doing this last 4 years? Making sure that the best possible succession would be in place. For me this is a sign of acceptance. A lesser man might have fallen into false hope and felt that somehow he would pull through and so not need to set up Apple so that his death would not be such a blow. We can only imagine what has been said in private and how Tim Cook and the senior team must themselves feel.
Steve Jobs has always been a truth speaker. In the last few years, his truth must have been like a sword. The Sword is the mythic icon for Truth. All vanity gone, the driving impulse to make his life man the most.
Surely we can all learn from this? By taking back our death as the motivator, we can take back our lives. By accepting no escape, we see the ups and downs in life in a better perspective. By working toward our end, we give our lives a shape and meaning and we give our true selves to those close to us.
There can surely be no greater gift. Here is a poem by Stephen Spender - who I think sums up the lives of Jobs and Layton so well:
I think continually of those who were truly great. Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history Through corridors of light where the hours are suns Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition Was that their lips, still touched with fire, Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song. And who hoarded from the Spring branches The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms. What is precious is never to forget The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth. Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light Nor its grave evening demand for love. Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit. Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields See how these names are feted by the waving grass And by the streamers of white cloud And whispers of wind in the listening sky. The names of those who in their lives fought for life Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre. Born of the sun they travelled a short while towards the sun, And left the vivid air signed with their honour. |
