How has your relationship with ultimate reality changed over the course of your lifetime? What spiritual lessons have you learned, that you would like to share with others?
Recently, my church hosted a talk by Pam Grisman, former Newsweek obituary writer, about how we can shape the way we are remembered after we die. She introduced us to the idea of writing our own obituaries. During the discussion, one of our church members, Char Maasen, made a comment that impressed me. She said that most obituaries tell us nothing about the inner lives of the people they describe. How did their spiritual lives unfold? Hardly ever will we read the answer to that question in the newspapers' obit pages!
Right then and there, Char and I agreed that we would try to get our church people to work on their spiritual autobiographies, to explore our souls' journeys, and prepare for the passage of death.
It's a good idea to create an "end-of-life" file for yourself, your loved ones, and your clergy person. Your file can include a listing of ways you would like to be celebrated and remembered, through a memorial service or other means. It can include your will, your wishes regarding end-of-life physical and spiritual care, and your wishes regarding the disposition of your body. (Go to the web for useful forms and advice re: advance health care directives, a free California statutory will form, and low-cost funeral arrangements.) And your file can include a traditional obituary and/or a spiritual autobiography.
Pam Grisman describes obituaries as "biographical haikus - succinct yet poetic prose that captures the essence of who we are". Here I urge you to write a sort of "spiritual haiku" - a short account of the development of your spirituality.
Here are questions that might stimulate you as you write your spiritual autobiography:
1) What is your earliest memory about the spiritual dimension of your life?
2) Who or what was God to you, in your earliest memories?
3) How did your understanding or experience of God change during your childhood and adolescence?
4) How has your understanding or experience of God changed during the stages of your adulthood?
5) What incidents or experiences have been "turning points" in your spiritual journey?
6) What spiritual lessons have you learned in your life so far, that you want to share with the people who matter most to you?
I'd love to see what you write, and with your permission, I'd like to excerpt some of your responses in a future "musing".
Don't worry about whether or not you produce a work of literary art! Remember that the truth of your heart is precious, in and of itself. Your life story is a unique treasure that nothing and nobody can replace! All the more reason to reflect on it, and glean from it the lessons that might inspire you and others to draw closer to the divine potential that exists within us.
