A Glorious Way to Go...

One cold winter day a group of us were crossing the Mississippi River, and it was frozen solid. Someone brought up the inevitable question when crossing bridges, "What if the bridge collapsed and we all fell in?" Another person replied, "Wow, that would be an ugly way to go. That'd be real bad." I retorted, "No it wouldn't! It wouldn't make any difference. How you die has nothing to do with how 'ugly' it is or it's not. It is the 'way' you die that matters."

An ugly way to go is the following: Having regrets. Dying in fear. Having shame. Wishing that you could have done things differently, but you didn't. Wishing you had more time, but you don't. Laying on your death bed while underneath your carpet is all of the crap of your life that got swept under there that you don't want anybody to know about, you don't want anybody to see, you're embarrassed that you did, and you never came to terms with it. Dying in a state where you haven't forgiven and have not been forgiven - that's an ugly way to go. It has nothing to do with whether you fall off a bridge, or if someone picked you out of a crowd.

On the contrary, a glorious way to leave this world would be when there is nothing left of you. You lived life to its fullest. You did it. The firewood of your life has all become ash. "Here I am Lord. I used my life for what you gave it to me. There's nothing left. I made my mistakes, and I offered them to you. I had my successes, and they all came from you." In this state, every corner of all of your rooms and closets, every recess from the attic to your basement is clean and open to examination. Having lived a fully integrated spiritual life means that there no longer remains anything of you left swept under the carpet. All four corners have been turned up.

You should be able to look into the mirror of your own conscience and know without doubt, "There is nothing left for me that I could do, want to do or could have tried. I used all my sincere effort. I used every faculty, every breath, every thought, every word, and every action to fulfill myself for the purpose of why I was given this life. I took care of my life just as I would have a rare gift, a trust." That's a glorious way to go.

- Sheikh Din Muhammad Abdullah al-Dayemi