The Wednesday Plus Advocate

Thoughts and Prayers

I am 74 years old. I have found more and more of my time taken up going to the doctor and funeral homes.

Like all of us, I see the almost daily killings of fellow Americans by people who have severe mental health issues and access to a gun. It seems that as a nation, maybe even as a People, we Americans have become almost blasé about death.

After every tragedy, we hear the usual expressions of “thoughts and prayers” by our leaders, but I never feel as though those sentiments are genuine, or just the expected mantra that circumstances require.

These awful news stories seem to glide past our visions like the stock market ticker tape at the bottom of our TV screens. Like flash cards, they hit us squarely in the eyes, and then move on to another topic. Our brains seem to do the same thing. We become desensitized to what years ago would have been a major blow to our collective psyche.

Sometimes, I feel that even when we experience the death of a friend or someone we used to know, maybe even a relative, that we all move along after the wake and funeral, which we may feel obligated to attend, and see it as a bump in our road to whatever we think is important.

Sometimes I think that our attitude toward people dying is analogous to fine china versus paper plates. It just seems to me that years ago, death was a more serious and lasting event to those left behind.

I am always uncomfortable at a wake when people are yucking it up within earshot of the grieving family and the deceased. I guess it’s a way for people to deal with our own mortality, but I have always found it odd, even as I have also engaged in this behavior.

There are other cultures where death is seen as just an extension of life, inevitable and as much a part of our lives as anything else we do. In America, it seems that we have a hard time accepting our finite time on this planet, and act as if we have no future date with Father Time.

I have attended a number of funerals lately and have listened to the prayers for the deceased and family. We are encouraged to believe that the departed has gone to a better place, which we all hope for. I know I could use an injection of faith. Life would be so much better.

Perhaps America’s pharmaceutical industry can come up with a formula for enhancing one’s faith, and thereby help our religious leaders in their mission to bring the good news. I’m sure the marketing guru’s would come up with a catchy name and and euphotic TV commercials.

In the meantime, I hope I can become more compassionate and impacted by the sad news that sometimes seems so prevalent, not to be morose, but to become more appreciative of life and my fellow beings.