WHY IS THERE A COFFIN UNDER THERE

As darkness slid into her comfortable home making way for the sun to stand guard, an intriguing vision grabbed my attention. This vision revealed a lovely room, reminiscent of large and breezy plantation homes. White sheets covered everything. I was speaking to two ladies in the room when I stumbled across something covered by a crisp sheet tucked in at the corners. One of the women turned to face me as I inquired about what I stumbled on. I moved the sheet away and to my surprise there was a beautiful caramel colored wood coffin.

It shocked me but did not scare me. The woman explained, very matter-of-factly, that she just had not been ready to bury it. I never asked her who or what was in it, nor did the other woman. I did ask why she was not ready to bury it. She simply shrugged her shoulders and responded, "Just not ready." My conscious self took over and I smiled because I realized I had just been blessed to have one of my dream reality sessions with God. (By the way these are absolutely much better than ANY reality TV show) I wondered how many of us keep coffins buried beneath sheets or situations or busy work because we just are not ready to bury them. I wondered what we keep in our coffins.

This woman held on to and clearly moved from place to place a coffin, a home for dead things, because she was not ready to allow the death of relationships, consequences, bad decisions, unfortunate moves and other truths of life to have their final moment. So she held on the coffin, carefully covering it and taking care to assure it was tucked in. Sadly, I have to admit that I have held onto some coffins or perhaps one big coffin full of dead things that I have refused to bury or have feared burying. Is it possible that we hold on to the coffin because we want to be able mourn when it is convenient, grieve when it is easier than pressing on or be consoled will we really need to be challenged. The coffin allows us to feel sorry for ourselves.

Funerals are without doubt one of the most traumatic and heart-wrenching life events; yet they are also an opportunity to celebrate life, experiences and reflect on legacy. Yet when we hold on to the coffin we fail to release the life that was into its next assignment. What would happen if you (and if I) finally buried our fear, our reservations, our numerous and unfounded concerns about the what ifs, and our ability to convince ourselves that we cannot ____________. What would happen if you (and I) stopped hiding our coffins and using them as a prayer altar? What would happen if we finally decided to bury the dead things as opposed to allowing them to accompany us in the dance of life.

Clearly, if there is a coffin, death was imminent and necessary - what can holding on to dead things produce in your current moment? May these words serve as a shovel for us as we begin to dig the grave where our coffins will finally come to rest. Now plan your repast and celebrate the life that death has brought to your door.