The Passing of the Torch.

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This is probably the most difficult blog I have written to date. I come here today with sadness, some anger, but mostly questions.  I am an Identical Twin, and although there have been moments in both of our lives that we wanted to kill each other, there is also a bond that exist between twins that can never be broken.  Sadly my brother is in the final stages of cancer, and undoubtedly will be moving on to his next adventure in just a few short days.  I do not say this for sympathy, rather I tell you what I am feeling because I want you to look at life,  more importantly look at your life.  

When we pass the torch we are moving it from one torch to another.  One torch will go out while the other is beginning a new journey.  When my loving brother takes his last breath, as sad as it will be for me, my sister, our mother and father, and his family, he will in fact be moving on to another adventure, and his spirit will be just as alive, just as whole, and just as perfect as it is today.  We will all pass the torch as some point in time, what I truly want you to do today is grasp a few important points.  

Passing the torch from one to another is a transfer of the very same flame.  It may be heading in a different direction, and the torch may be a slightly different design but in truth the flame is the very same.  The purpose of the original torch may be different from that of the new torch, but it is still the same flame.  When we go on to our next adventure, when that moment comes when we no longer exist as we know now, we don't stop being who we are, we simply move on to a different expression of who we are.  We will always have memories of those who have come and gone before us, and although many tears will be shed, I know that my loving brother is on to something completely different that he is equally qualified to do.

Up to this point I could only empathize with someone who either lost, or was about to loose a sibling.  I now know the heartache.  Up to this point in my life I never really looked at mortality beyond knowing of others who have passed.  Loss this close, loss this deep is so very hard to comprehend.  I guess it's not until the final moments that we realize that this change we are about to have thrust upon us, will indeed change us forever, as we will never have his physical nature around us again.  Yet though it all I can only be thankful that I was able to call him brother, that we were "The Twins".  I am so thankful that God allowed  us to come into this world together, and it was this togetherness that gave us a very special, unique bond that no one else is able to share, well unless you're also an Identical Twin.  

I do not tell you all of this for sympathy, I'm saying all this so you might look at things a little differently.  You have been blessed by being here in this moment. We all have a mission, a calling, a purpose.  While many will live very long lives, others are very short in comparison.  No matter who you are, no matter what you do or what you may have achieved or accumulated during this life time, you will not be able to add one second to a life that is already predetermined.  It is so vitally important that you do what you were sent here to do.  There are countless lives waiting to receive what you have to offer, and if you feel as though you have nothing to offer to anyone you are greatly mistaken.  

We are all going to pass our torch at some point in time.  We started at one specific point in time, and we will end at one specific point in time.  Dealing with death is never easy, but it is far more difficult when you do not believe that the true essence of an individual lives on.  I know that I will never be able to hug my brother again, or talk with him on our weekly zoom calls.  I know that part of me knows this, part of me understands all this, and yet part of me feels as though I am in a dream.  But this I do know: he lives on in spirit, and now he will not be bogged down by the things of this world.  He will continue to be what he has always been and that is total spirit.  I am sad, and yet I am a little jealous as he will know what is on the other side.  We all wonder what it will be like, but he will now know the truth.  

If you fear death might I suggest that you begin to look at life as it really is, a phase.  We will go from phase to phase, at times knowing, at other times with what seems like no connection at all.  There are many mysteries in life, death being the biggest.  So many wonder what is beyond death.  Is there a heaven, is there a hell?  Do we simply stop existing in any form?  I do not look at this flesh and blood body as the end.  I do not see my brother's passing as an end.  Yes I want him around, and no this is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.  But my faith says that God the Creator's plan is perfect, and I will stand in that perfection.  

To my brother I simply say "I love you Steven, and I will see you on the other side".