In this month of November,\nas we remember our beloved dead, thoughts might turn somewhat naturally to our\nown mortality, dying and death. I say\n\u201cnaturally,\u201d because nature\u2019s move into winter \u2013 at least in the Northern\nhemisphere \u2013 brings longer darkness and shorter days, falling leaves and frosty\ntemperatures. All these might evoke\nmoments in us in which we are able to confront the fact that our own life, too,\nwill end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many Christians before us,\nhowever, did not entrust to the course of nature the primary responsibility of reminding\nthem of their own end. Teresa of Avila,\nfor example, had a skull on her table as a \u201cmemento mori<\/em>,\u201d as had many\nother saints before her and since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I have my own \u201cmemento mori<\/em>,\u201d and it seems very appropriate to the context in which I live. My \u201cmemento mori<\/em>\u201d is part of a sustainable, \u201cgreen\u201d burial movement and practice, namely to use as your coffin something recycled from daily life and work. In my case, my coffin-to-be currently serves as a shelf for books in my office. The shelf was built for me and my office, but its shape maintains the semblance of a coffin. Within my shelf-coffin are boards filled with books, which can easily be taken out when the need arises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will admit to sitting uneasily in my office chair initially, when my shelf-coffin first arrived. But since then, this green \u201cmemento mori<\/em>\u201d has become very \u201cnatural\u201d for me (even if some students continue to be taken aback when they come to see me).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wonder whether every \u201cmemento mori<\/em>,\u201d however well chosen, will not eventually become so naturalized? In my experience, confronting one\u2019s own finitude<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 rather than the more general fact of mortality \u2013 is hard indeed. Which is why it might actually be helpful to have the month of November to help us with this task. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How do we confront our own finitude?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":49895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[3119,2972,275,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-environment-and-ecology","category-funeralsburial","category-liturgical-year"],"yoast_head":"\n