Out Jogging --- Excercises of Another Sort -3
Thoughts running through a mind jogged by the news
This posting (and others similarly titled) is not directly related to Madeira or our work here. It is rather an outlet for commentary on events and remarks in the news. Previous posting in this series was on July 4.
I have sort of intended this heading to be for comments on news in general that is not directly related to our work here in Madeira. Perhaps I could create a subcategory:
OVERHEARD WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET
"Eu cá tenho medo de morrer." The two young women were walking along the street and at the exact moment our paths crossed, those words spoken by one of them came out clear as a bell, in spite of the noise of the city traffic. Oftentimes we hear only the beginning of a phrase or the end of one in such circumstances, but this time the timing was perfect. I heard only these words...nothing that preceded them, nothing that was said in response: "I, for one, am afraid of dying." One wonders what occasioned that statement.
It was only 5 minutes later, as I was walking along another of the city streets that I overheard the following words (or something very close to them) by one of two older women who had just bumped into each other: "Não se vai morrer hoje." ("We won't be dying today.") I seem to remember that there's a local superstition that if you accidentally run into an acquaintance twice in a day, you won't die that day. Apparently the two ladies had already had a similar encounter earlier.
I thought it strange that within a matter of minutes I would have overheard two snippets of conversation related to death, albeit quite different in their emotional content. While it's probably true of everyone who reads this that "we won't be dying this day", it is obvious that one day we will be dying. Will we be free of fear when the time comes? That's one of the reasons Jesus came: "that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14-15
This posting (and others similarly titled) is not directly related to Madeira or our work here. It is rather an outlet for commentary on events and remarks in the news. Previous posting in this series was on July 4.
I have sort of intended this heading to be for comments on news in general that is not directly related to our work here in Madeira. Perhaps I could create a subcategory:
OVERHEARD WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET
"Eu cá tenho medo de morrer." The two young women were walking along the street and at the exact moment our paths crossed, those words spoken by one of them came out clear as a bell, in spite of the noise of the city traffic. Oftentimes we hear only the beginning of a phrase or the end of one in such circumstances, but this time the timing was perfect. I heard only these words...nothing that preceded them, nothing that was said in response: "I, for one, am afraid of dying." One wonders what occasioned that statement.
It was only 5 minutes later, as I was walking along another of the city streets that I overheard the following words (or something very close to them) by one of two older women who had just bumped into each other: "Não se vai morrer hoje." ("We won't be dying today.") I seem to remember that there's a local superstition that if you accidentally run into an acquaintance twice in a day, you won't die that day. Apparently the two ladies had already had a similar encounter earlier.
I thought it strange that within a matter of minutes I would have overheard two snippets of conversation related to death, albeit quite different in their emotional content. While it's probably true of everyone who reads this that "we won't be dying this day", it is obvious that one day we will be dying. Will we be free of fear when the time comes? That's one of the reasons Jesus came: "that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14-15
posted by EP | 1:13 AM | Permalink
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home