The Beauty of Roscoe’s Transition

The plan 

is to publish a collection of stuff titled 

We’re All Going to Heaven 

Whether We Like It or Not.

A recent letter is a candidate.

Dear Margaret,

As you know, I’m sure, Sam called me yesterday with the news of Roscoe.  Our conversation was so rewarding that Sam said he wished he could have recorded it so he could share it with you.  Next best, he asked if I would write a note about our chat for you to read.  This is my attempt at that.

The reason Sam and I enjoy such a rich friendship is that it contributes like few other friendships we have to our individual quests to live the deepest life we can.  Not deep in a serious way, but in a way of ever-greater expansion, however that might manifest itself: a peaceful heart, joy, kindness, humor…. Things you know so well.

So regardless of the particulars of a given conversation––in this case, the death of Roscoe––we’re always attempting to address from the largest perspective we can what I like to call life’s two most important questions: What’s going on, and what’s the healthiest action I can take in this moment?

To me, there is only one thing going on.  Always.  We are souls on a journey of enlightenment.  When I say “we”, I mean all beings, including Roscoe and his brother Rocky.   

Over however many lifetimes it takes––mineral to plant to animal to human to enlightened human––we grow our conscious Oneness with all of existence.  Our individual choices along the way shape when and how, but the final destination is a done deal, inherent in the purpose of the universe itself.  My favorite way of putting it is that we’re all going to heaven whether we like it or not.  

To this end, the universe is designed explicitly to facilitate that growth in every moment and circumstance of our life.  Somewhere along the way we evolve to the point that we find it imperative to pay ever-greater attention to the choices we make, why we make them, and the impact of those choices on ourselves and others.  

And as we do, we grow in our appreciation that every experience, every choice, every action, can reveal to us how we’re defining realty in that moment––and, if need be, how we might consider re-defining it so that, instead of being held hostage by our small self/ego-oriented sense of things, we enjoy an ever-more fulsome relationship with our True Self, the Self attuned to the unconditional love that is the essence of existence.  

Among the most seismic realizations that eventually dawn on us is that how we define our world actually creates our world.  Other people and outside circumstances may trigger a response, but they don’t cause it.  The primary cause of our every opinion, judgement, feeling, etc. is always how we define reality.  

And when we reach enlightenment, we will look back at every single choice and experience throughout our countless lives and celebrate how each has contributed to our awakening.  Everything is a gift, and the business of life is discovering how come.

All that is the reason the conversation Sam and I had about Roscoe’s transition included tremendous beauty.

The soul you two named Roscoe had obviously completed all he needed to experience in this incarnation except one thing: a dramatic exit which would make very visible the exceptional capacity for love that the two of you, and he, have developed so far on your respective journeys to Oneness.  

In the face of Roscoe’s physical trauma, the well of love you and Sam carry within you exploded with action to provide Roscoe the most tender embrace you could offer him as he made his way wherever this trauma was destined to take him. 

Our soul is always encouraging us to make choices that honor the sacredness of existence.  That Roscoe got to leave this life, not on the street, nor in the vet’s office, but in the security of his home that included the loving touch of his human family was not only your sacred gift to him, but his to you.  My bet is as soon that car hit him his soul felt two things: the inevitability that it was time to go, and gratitude that he had the energy to wait for just the right moment to say farewell.

And so, just as you do with your other beloveds, animal and human, you get to spend the rest of your lives discovering how this boy, his life and his death, enriches your understanding of yourselves.

I’m so grateful Sam called to share this poignant moment in your lives, and then suggest I write something that reflected the spirit of our conversation.  It has brought alive fond memories of Roscoe and Rocky jumping on me and chewing my hand, as well as them racing around with my boys, Red and Love.  Most important of all, given how I miss you both due to the miles between us, I relish the reminder of how I treasure our friendship.

I’m pretty sure death in all its forms is forever whispering in our ear: Don’t miss a moment!

In gratitude, 

Steve