A Borrower Be

(Bust of Marcus Aurelius)

Although Shakespeare counseled against it, we are all borrowers.

Our very bodies are composed of borrowed atoms, possibly the   same ones that graced Cleopatra’s physique.  Lest such impermanence seem depressing, Marcus Aurelius has some stoicism to share.

This ancient Roman philosopher suggests   that whether you live three years or three thousand, all you can really experience is the   present moment.  Since the past has passed, and the future has not yet arrived, what else is there to lose?  You can only lose what you have, and all that you truly have is right here now.

So we are constantly losing what we have, which is another

way of saying that we are constantly dying.  And we are constantly being reborn.  Aurelius therefore concludes that death is “a natural thing.  And nothing natural is evil." 

Resources

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/marcus-aurelius-on-embracing-mortality-and-the-key-to-living-with-presence 

Copyright May 4, 2020 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved