“There are universal truths; insights arrived at by learned men and women; insights growing out of philosophy and theology that have no meaning beyond a final exam unless you and I discover them by and for ourselves.
One of these universal truths is that like everything else in life, life itself must come to an ending, nothing to be feared… only to be accepted.
By owning that reality… by accepting it as an immutable fact, we are fully alive to participate in what our lives bring in the present, finding at least a modicum of fulfillment and satisfaction in this awareness each day that we’re alive.
Beyond a modicum of fulfillment is the potential for a life of rich and deep satisfaction arising out of the total of those special instances… moments that define us… moments that give shape to our humanity… instances which in the cumulative give meaning to our lives before mortality.
It is the noble, to a far greater extent than the mundane, moments that comprise this life of rich and deep satisfaction.
And it is in this that we live in gratitude until like everything else in life, our lives come to an end.”