How Suffering and Death Can Reveal the Soul’s Light

Discovering radiance in the shadow of morning dread

Photo by Ina Ramos on Unsplash

I awake in the morning and there comes a feeling of dread.

I wonder where this feeling comes from — why am I programmed to feel or rather think the worst on these mornings?

I ask myself, what am I thinking of? I consider for a moment the absolute worst thing that could happen. Is it death?

It is far worse to have someone close to you die than to die yourself. But, still, the feeling this morning is more of a personal dread than a worry for a loved one.

Am I thinking of my death, and is that why I feel dread?

I ask myself, for in death, this experience is over — and that’s not all that bad — right?

For in death, you have the opportunity to be born again, to transform — or so I believe.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The body returns to the earth, but something deeper — a light, a presence — remains.

The younger version of me would push down any d…