Time has a purpose. The meaning of a sentence becomes clear when we put a period at the end of it. The same applies to life. When we talk about things worth dying for, we're really talking about the things worth living for, the things that give life beauty and meaning. Thinking a little about our mortality puts the world in perspective. It helps us see what matters, and also the foolishness of things that, finally, don't matter.
This was a good series of reflections on big questions of life (and death) written by Archbishop Charles Chaput after his resignation upon turning 75 was accepted by Pope Francis. He gives us the benefit of his years of experience as he comes close to the end of his own life.
Each chapter is a series of connected reflections which rather threw me off until I realized that it wasn't intended as one coherent narrative driving toward a goal at the end of each chapter. Each chapter has a single topic like friendship or memory or leadership. Each ties up nicely at the end but the middle leaves one time for reflections and pondering, just as the author intends.
I liked this a lot and was interested to see how many current happenings and cultural touchstones Archbishop Chaput incorporated from COVID-19 shut downs to The Lord of the Rings to Fortnite. As well he includes plenty of ancient wisdom from both pagans and Christians. It is an easy read and one that I recommend.
I'm reviewing this myself. I thought it was coherent, and while each chapter seems to run in its own direction when I stepped back I thought I saw the coherence. I summarized my thoughts on my Goodreads review but I am writing up chapter by chapter thoughts on my blog.
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