Here At The End Of All Things

So here we are at the end of all things (well, just the end of 2009, really).

Yesterday, I watched Avatar, and in short, it is a fantastic movie, and the best I've seen this year, and the best in a while. Many people would have seen it and I don't suppose I have to write much about it. It's very stylish, but it is also strong on substance and message.

When I returned home, I read The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy in practically one sitting. I only took my bath after finishing the book. It's a slim volume, just over a hundred pages, but it's a very powerful story. In short, the book is about the life of Ivan Ilyich and the process that he goes through as he lies dying from a mystery illness. 

    He is forced to take a cold, hard look at the life and relationships that he has formed, at the status in society that he has achieved, and whether or not his life was worth living.

Both Avatar and The Death of Ivan Ilyich confront us with the issue of what is important in life, and about how we should live our life and face our deaths. Ultimately, we can only die the way we have lived. And when we die, we die alone (physically). We came into the world alone, and we will leave it on our own as well.

Will we die having been a slave to money, power, position and the ephemeral things in life? Or will we leave behind wonderful memories, beautiful relationships and made this world a little better than when we came?

May all of you have a happy, fruitful and hopeful 2010.