Monday, October 31, 2011

Steve Jobs and the Other Side...

Halloween brings out the wicked in many folks. The zombies roam the earth. Hands push their way through the dirt of a fresh dug grave site.Morbidly, there are times when I think of death and what that moment will entail... Driving by a graveyard and think "Those lucky bastards". They get the rest they worked hard for! :)
Will it be painful?
Will it be filled with bright white light and a rush of air?
Will there be family and friends on the other side there to greet me?
Some folks speak of a white light. Some speak of a grand dark wood staircase...Victorian in nature.
Some speak of a calming familiar voice saying that they will be there to help you through to the other side.

Recently, Steve Jobs lost his earthly battle to cancer. He was able to go quietly with his family surrounding him at his bedside. One of the things that I found interesting was information in the eulogy Mr. Jobs' sister provided at his memorial when she spoke of his last moments on Earth. She mentioned that his breath became shorter and shorter. "His breath," she said, "indicated an arduous journey, some steep path, altitude." I find a parallel to this idea. What she spoke of allowed me to envision a strong climb up a steep mountainside where there are rocks and crevasses to climb over, going higher and higher. I can envision the climb getting steeper and steeper and getting closer and closer to the clouds and the bright, sunny sky pushing the oxygen out of my lungs...climbing our way past the cloud line and above the grandeur of it all and the view is the most breath taking of our lives!

She goes on to say that, "Steve was like a girl in the amount of time he spent talking about love. Love was his supreme virtue, his god of gods. He tracked and worried about the romantic lives of the people working with him." Truthfully, besides the opportunity to live our lives fully here on Earth, love is the most important thing that God gives us all the opportunity to experience, in whatever form it comes in. I have spoken numerous times on the topic of love and will allow that to stand on it own.

What I found the most moving of all was her conclusion to the eulogy. She shared his final moments, which were spent staring lovingly at his family. What scares me the most is the idea of being all alone, in the dark, and to not have a chance to tell the ones I love how much they have meant in my own life. She went on to say that somehow he looked past their shoulders, staring off into the distance at something most beautiful and was only able to say three monosyllabic words and it turned out to his final words on this Earth.

OH WOW.
OH WOW.
OH WOW.

Just beautiful.
My sincerest hope is that I can reach that mountaintop, have my family and friends there to greet me so that I too can say, "Oh WOW!"

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