Death by Living

Our mens' discussion group just read Death by Living by N.D. Wilson. I highly recommend the book. This book changes you and at the end you are not exactly sure why. Nate has a great way of connecting to the past and revealing our interconnectedness with grandparents, parents, siblings and children. We are all dying and the more fully we live among those we love will insure that death is eked out of us through every moment lived. That is a good thing that brings glory to our lives. I might call it living to die. Or living ourselves to death, which is I think the gist of what Nate is saying.

One thing we discussed was Nate's good grasp of the need to connect to grandparent's stories before there is no one to connect to. He was able to do that with his grandmother on his father's side and his grandfather on his mother's side, before they died. Many of us are already too old to connect the history of our grandparents. Some of us have already lost the connection to our parents. I realize that I know very little about my own father's life. He has been gone since 1999. What is even more shocking to me is that I know almost nothing about my mother's life, her childhood, her parents, what is important to her, and she is still alive. I have no excuse for not knowing. I guess I didn't care that much, until now. But the days to find out are growing shorter and shorter.

One of our men knew of a website of good questions to ask parents and grandparents. Check it out here: http://storycorps.org/great-questions/#grandparents. Thanksgiving would be a good time to sit down with a parent or grandparent for a few hours and find about yourself.