Stephen Jenkinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Says in \u201cThe Meaning of Death\u201d something\nquite profound about our age, and how the fate of our civilization is tied to\nthe personal experience of death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have watched the video maybe twenty times\nand have been both moved and confused by what he said. I transcribed the entire\ntext, but I am still not sure exactly what he is saying. What I can say is that\nI would not have been drawn to it if it were not compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephen Jenkinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Meaning of Death\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know I was asked, many, many times when\nI was in the front lines of the.. No! When the people in death\u2019s shade thought\nI was a good idea–to come and talk about finding meaning at the end of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was the standard request<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you can see the idea that meaning is\nsomehow potentially elusive, or even fugitive. And has to be somehow be wrung\nfrom the circumstances is behind that question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a particularly modernist dilemma <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To find meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the real problem is in conceiving of it\nas something that you have to find. You can see the language implies that it is\nhidden, or that you are not looking in the right place, or that there is some nefarious\narchitecture that keeps it from you, or that… You understand\u2014or that <\/p>\n\n\n\n
you have to claim so-and-so as your\npersonal savior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What but what if the meaning is not hidden?\nWhat if is not something to find. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if the story is that meaning is not\nfound at all, but it\u2019s made. It is made by the willingness to proceed as if\ncertain things must be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like, life has to continue, not you have to\ncontinue. That life is not your lifespan, or your children\u2019s lifespan, or the lifespan\nof what you hold dear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How about holding dear the fact that\nnothing you hold dear lasts? How about holding that close to your bosom? That\u2019s\nmaking meaning of the end of life, the willingness to do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not hammered into the sky for all to\nsee so that nobody can forget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see how precarious the whole\nproposition is. It actually has to be lived out and told in order to pertain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It ha(s) no police, it ha(s) no enforcement\nbranch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re not willing for it to be so, it\nprobably won\u2019t be. End. Well, what\u2019s the consequence of that? Well, it is not a\nconjecture, look around you. Our way of life is the consequence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life does not feed life. Life is on the\nreceiving side of life, always. No it is death that feeds life. It is the end\nof life that gives life a chance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a hurtful kind of comfort, maybe,\nthat the dominant culture of North America is in some kind of beginning stage\nof a terminal swoon. Because it\u2019s the\nbeginning, it is hard to tell the difference between that and dancing, or\nhaving a good time, you know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, it is terminal alright, meaning that\nthere is no turning back from it, there is no undoing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alas, it is worse than talking about it as\na punishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not a punishment, no more that dying is\na punishment for being born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our particular dilemma, I think, is trying\nto live with the realization that what the world requires of us humans is not\nthat they piss off already and why don\u2019t you all die and then we\u2019ll go back\nwhere we were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, I think that the world whispers, \u201cAll\nwe need of you is that you be human\u2014that\u2019s it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dilemma is in the meaning of the word, \u201chuman.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has to die is your refusal to die; your\nrefusal for things to end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that dies, life can be fed by (that) and\nso the plea is not for punishment, it\u2019s for remembrance. You are not supposed\nto feel bad about having forgotten. You are supposed to feel more. See, that is\nthe invitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n