watching somone die...

I was talking to my friend Jon yesterday. This conversation got me to thinking about love and our society, both seperately and as one. Both from the Christian prospective (in which I was raised) and the secular one (that I now look through), it seems safe to say that there is an understanding that regardless of where you may believe one goes when he dies, he is not taking the possessions of this world with him. This being said, why are so many people of this place in which we live so hell bent on attaining material wealth?

It is all about what you have and who you know. Our self-worth and happiness is based on the car we drive, the education we have earned, and where that education has taken us. It is all about iPods and big screen tvs, designer jeans, and not working at Starbucks for the rest of your life.

The fact of the matter, none of these things mean anything. Though they may satisfy for a short time, there will be no true happiness found in what one has. I think that deep down, we all know this, whether we would like to grasp that knowledge or not. Why then do we strive after things that are not really going to make us happy? In this way, we shape our lives only by what society wants from us, what it has told us is right.

I have decided that this is a crock of shit. Jon has lost love because of how fucked up our society is. It may be small minded of me, but I truely believe that 'all we need is love.' Nothing else really matters. Having real true love, whether it be a significant other or the love of real friends and family, is the only thing that is real. It will take you through all things. Love is true happiness.

It is here that I must reflect on Death Cab for Cutie and the statement, "Love is watching someone die." This is a line of beauty. At the surface it is one thing, but there is so much meaning. To truely love someone is to sit by them when they are leaving this world, to suffer along with them, knowing that your life will never be the same, because they have been a piece of what your life is. Love is living and interacting with them day to day. To walk with them through all of the joy and heartache (because truth be told we are all slowly dying as each minute passes). Love is saying yes to love. It is commiting your life to someone, it is deciding that you are going to be there for the long haul. To decide that you love this person so much that you want to watch them die when the time comes.

Is there anything more beautiful than this? I don't think there is. It is naked reality. There is nothing else in life worth looking for. With that said, "So who's gonna watch you die?"

I will.