It’s the one daily exercise that we hardly ever miss. In fact, it’s the one daily routine that’s hard to skip, even if we want to.
Sooner or later, every day of our lives we tire and need rest. We usually try to find a secure and reasonably comfortable place and then surrender our consciousness, but no matter what we intend, it usually happens anywhere, anyhow, no matter what our intentions, sooner or later!
Of course, it’s falling asleep—but, in a way, falling asleep is DDP, a kind of Daily Dying Practice. Of course, we don’t call it that, but, in effect, it really is something like that.
Mysteriously, daily we somehow surrender our consciousness, some healing processes takes place in our bodies, and then we return to consciousness, we wake up.
It’s curious, why in the world would we consider “resurrection” as something strange and mysterious, when, in a way, it’s so similar to our daily routine?
Dying and sleeping, reviving and awaking—they’re similar and easy to confuse.
Not everyone would agree to this. Some, trusting only in medical science and scientific observation, would deny that any revival from death is possible; others, trusting additionally in divine revelation and religious belief, would disagree.
In any case, we all engage in the same daily, somewhat deathlike, process, willy-nilly, which we identify as sleeping.
And, as a matter not merely of science but also of faith, religious believers see dying as a kind of sleeping from which there is an ultimate future awakening or resurrection.
Unique historical data supporting this confidence and belief is associated primarily with what we have come to call the “resurrection” and “ascension” of Jesus.
In any case, health and exercise conscious folks that we are, we need to be sure that we’re following a good DDP routine.
First, before putting out the light and falling asleep, remember that this could be your last day! Presuming that it is, give thanks to God for the day (and all the past days) and all the good things, graces, and blessing that you receive.
Then, give thanks for all the people, near and far, who have loved, guided, and strengthened you recently and all through your life—and commend to God all those who are now part of your life and who may be relying on your help and support.
And, examining your conscience, don’t forget to ask God to forgive your impatience, exaggerated self-concern, and other failings and beg his favor and grace for those you know to be in need.
Don’t be afraid to close your eyes and drift away. You can be fearless: you’re not going to fall off a cliff, you’re not in any ultimate danger, and there will be a tomorrow—though it may not be like all the thousands of tomorrows that you have experienced to date. Remember, God is love and loves you!
Grateful—concerned for others—without fear of what comes next: these all parts of “dying practice.”
Waking up, the first reaction should be more gratitude—gratitude for the new day or for the startling, never previously experienced, new stage of life, whichever the case may be.
This is Daily Dying Practice: awareness, gratitude, contrition, trust. Like all exercises, if you practice them each day, they become like second-nature, and the stronger and more developed you become.
And, beware of the deadly opposites that can make you sleepless—fear, absorption in self and self-regret, and clinging to the past.
8 January 2023