Reflections on Life and Death

Reflections on Life and Death


Today's entry is a little bit different. I recently found out that a male friend from Vancouver died and a woman I loved is now an al-Jazeera reporter. The friend was in his early 40's, the woman in her early 30's. It made me think of life and death, about why we are here, about my goals in life, and how precious each day really is. About how life is mysterious, grand, powerful, and beautiful. About the memories we keep in our hearts. About opening our doors of perception. About healing the world. About being good to each other, as one reggae singer said at at a recent outdoor concert at Toronto's brilliant Kensington Market. About how short our time is here. About how short our time is here and now, but about how we must toast to both "here and now and then and there," as the Sufi mystic Rumi would often do.

These two friends have been given very different paths. One is now a dead Jew with a bohemian spirit. The other is a living Palestinian with the journalist's voice of an angel and the poetic spirit of Nadia Tueni (a Lebanese poet she introduced me to). Yet, they both live in my heart. They have made me reflect and write this piece. They have touched me. In life and death, both of you do not walk alone. I send you love, peace, laughter, humanity, and joy.

And let me say this about both of you. Leon, you made me laugh and you were mad with life. You rubbed a bunch of people the wrong way, but you would constantly joke with me about how I could simultaneously be an Arab prince or a Mossad agent! If you could take a look at this blog carefully, you know I would not make a good spy! Zeina, my wellspring of love for you used to overflow at the gates of heaven. I still remember how it felt to meet you and to dream about meeting you. They don't make many in life like you! For both of you I repeat and paraphrase what Tueni once said: I love your words, but also your silences. A toast to both of you. A toast to life and death. So that life will always triumph! And so that the awakening spirit of the sun, moon, rivers, trees, and wind sustains us all, in life and death.

Tamir Bar-On