Passing - Deacon Brendan Brides

Visually challenged used to be blind. Hearing impaired used to be deaf. Metabolically challenged used to be fat. On a construction site I once heard a full time carpenter/part time comedian suggest that cripple studs (the much smaller studs at the ends of a tapered wall) should be referred to as "dimensionally challenged studs." But the the one that really gets to me is "she passed." Passed what? passed the butter, passed the ball, passed out, passed by? Passed, in years gone by, used to be dying. I don't plan on ever passing. I’m just going to do what Jesus did …He suffered death and was buried….: I’m just going to die too.

There are those who have difficulty in talking about death and dying. Rather than use the “D word” terms like “pass” have become more prominent and that certainly is understandable if one does not believe that by dying one is born into eternal life. Christianity teaches that death is something be embraced, when it comes, rather than shunned. If death is the final frontier with nothing beyond I think I’d feel more comfortable too if I anticipated my demise as when I pass rather than as when I die.

Passing is not something to be taken lightly. Depending on who we are, our passing is something that could have a great effect on many people. For example, the great Tom Brady passed back in 2012. that was the 2012 Super Bowl and of course, Welker dropped it but that’s a story for another blog.

In passing, just some rambling thoughts on life as I sit here and pass the time.