Making the most of life

Until my father's passing, I had been fairly sure that there was nothing after death. After spending years studying philosophy, I could not seem to accept the idea of "eternal life" and "everlasting peace" in the "world to come".

Yet, when I lost my father just a few hours after spending the night tending to his needs in hospital, I began to question my former apparent certainties. How was it possible that my father could be there one minute and gone the next? What had happened to his persona, to the essence of who he had been, to his soul?

Ecclesiastes teaches: "And the dust returns to the earth as it was, but the spirit returns unto God, who gave it." (12.7) Today, while I am still not sure whether or not I believe in God, I draw comfort at least from striving to honor my father's memory through my actions.

As Sylvan Kamens and Jack Riemer wrote in their poem, We Remember Them, also recited at Shimon's funeral:

As long as we live, they too shall live,
for they are now a part of us,
as we remember them.