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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Steve Taylor

Every so often, I like to visit cemeteries. It鈥檚 not because I鈥檓 morbid or miserable 鈥� on the contrary, I find cemeteries life-affirming places. We human beings tend to take life for granted, unconsciously assuming that we鈥檙e immortal, so it鈥檚 helpful to remind ourselves that life is fragile and temporary, and therefore precious.

Many religions encourage us to contemplate our mortality. In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha advises monks that whenever they come across a dead body, they should tell themselves, 鈥渕y own body is of the same nature; such it will become and will not escape it.鈥�

The Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday is also a reminder of human mortality. Ashes are placed upon the heads of worshippers, while the priest recites the words "remember that you are dust and unto dust, you shall return."

In my research as a psychologist, I have found that for some people, encounters with death 鈥� such as through a diagnosis of cancer 鈥� can be transformational. They can awaken a new sense of gratitude and broaden ones perspective on life. As one person who was in remission from cancer told me, 鈥渢rivial things become more trivial, and important things become more important.鈥� By trivial, he meant things like material possessions and competing for success and status. By important, he meant things like love, kindness, creativity and spirituality. Awareness of morality also focuses our attention on the present, and weakens our attachment to possessions and achievements.

I pray that our lives will continue for many years and decades hence. But while we enjoy our lives, let鈥檚 occasionally remind ourselves that we are only here for a limited amount of time. Then we will savour our time here even more.

Blessings.