Calavera

“Keep death daily before your eyes.” This is one of the “Tools for Good Works” from the Rule of St. Benedict (Chapter 4). It is a simple line, no context, no explanation. Just one in a list of things to do to do good. Gazing at death is something we are particularly bad at in our society. We pay good money for anti-aging creams, sports cars, and supplements (well, some of us do) to feel like we can look away from death. Yet, St. Benedict calls it a “Tool for Good Works.”  

All Souls’ Day invites us to devote one day to look at death. We are invited to sit in our grief, together, knowing that what has come for our beloved deceased comes for us all. It also invites us to remember belief in eternal life means that death is not the end of our existence. For Christians, death is not to be feared but understood as another transition. 

As a European American, I am deeply grateful to our Mexican American siblings for sharing the tradition of El Día de los Muertos. The holiday gives the freedom to recognize death with all the human emotions it brings: sadness and fear, but also joy and humor. There is joy in remembering the people we have loved mixed with the sadness. There can be humor in the absurdity of aging and decay that keeps the fear from overwhelming. (If I can make one offer for media consumption today, go to YouTube and search “Día de los Muertos short film” and watch the 3-minute animated student film that comes up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQnUuq-TEE if you can copy/paste)

So how can looking at death be a tool for doing good? There are probably many answers to this question, but one is humility. Recognizing the reality of death makes pride impossible. It reminds us of our equality with all human beings, and allows us to laugh at what we cannot take with us: wealth, prestige, power. Death gives us permission to take everything a little less seriously - maybe even with a brightly decorated skull made of sugar.