Saturday, February 09, 2008

True Religion

On Saturday, Heath Ledger's friends and family bid the actor a final farewell in his native Australia. Following the private funeral and wake, mourners -- including Heath's ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams -- jumped into the waters at Cottesloe Beach and watched the sun set as one final send-off. - AP
In the late 70s, my church began to celebrate the more elemental aspects of Christianity- services at midnight for Christmas, sunrise service for Easter, lakefront sunset services for our Fellowship retreats.

I can still smell the morning fog on Easter; it always seemed to rain on Easter back then. Being a kid I spent most of my leisure time (that is the time when I wasn't sick or in school) outside, and the onset of Spring was magic. I could feel the woods come back to life and it was intoxicating watching the last remnants of the winter snows melt and glisten in the April sunshine. 

Sitting next to an open stained glass window in children's chapel, smelling the world come back to life was the true religion, and overshadowed the Easter story itself.

While a sunset swim for a departed loved one may seem insensitive to some, to me it's the most profoundly religious act I can imagine. Ledger's essence has returned to the source, and his art lives on forever. Meanwhile those whose lives he touched have to continue on their own journey. How better to initiate the rest of their lives than immersing themselves in the elements of life themselves? How better to celebrate to utter improbability of our lives?

It's so beautiful, it hurts.