Honouring a death is to honour a life

I have been deeply moved by the outpouring of public sympathy and support in the wake of the tragic death of Westshore RCMP Const. Sarah Beckett. This has robbed not only her young family of a loving wife and mother, but also our community of a dedicated and widely respected law enforcement officer. The way in which the residents of Greater Victoria have marked this sad occurrence has been truly inspiring.

A recent episode of 鈥淣CIS: New Orleans鈥� (yes, I know, but even writers on spiritual topics are allowed a guilty pleasure) featured a Second Line parade held for a deceased member of the Navy. I had never heard of this, and some Googling revealed that Second Line parades celebrate -- with a brass band, marching, and revelry -- both happy events and sad ones, such as a death. A large picture of the deceased person is carried in the parade, and everyone has a good time in their honour. One of the characters in the episode couldn鈥檛 see the point of celebrating death. When he expressed this, another offered that they marched to celebrate a life lived not a life lost.

I greatly admire the work of Rev. Al Tysick and the Dandelion Society. Every morning, without fail, Rev. Al and his volunteers are moving among Victoria鈥檚 homeless community, checking in on them, offering food, blankets, socks, and other much-needed necessities of life. Just as important, however, is the fact that Rev. Al is an enduring witness that these usually overlooked Victoria residents have value and are loved. Despite their circumstances, they matter. They have rights. They are living lives that, while challenging, are no less important than the lives of any other citizen of this city.

On Facebook, Rev. Al often shares stories of his street family. In particular, he marks when one of the many individuals he journeys with has died. These posts are always tough for me to read. Rev. Al doesn鈥檛 gloss over the troubled life of an individual or the struggles they had with addiction or mental health issues. This was part of their experience on this Earth, and Rev. Al shares it. In that sharing, what Rev. Al does is raise up a life lived so it is marked,听 remembered, and celebrated.

I think this is one of the most important parts of Rev. Al鈥檚 ministry. We all deserve to be remembered when we die. We all deserve to have our lives celebrated. We all deserve to have it known that we were loved and will be greatly missed.

Every life should be celebrated. We are all given such a short time, and life is truly miraculous. As far as we know right now, life is unique to this odd little planet, third removed from the Sun. It is astonishing that we are here at all, really.

Every death deserves to be marked. In honouring death, we honor life. It does not matter how a person lived, what they 鈥渃ontributed,鈥� whether they had a home or lived on the streets.

That they lived at all is enough.

Kevin Aschenbrenner is a Victoria-based writer, poet and communications professional. He holds an M.A. in Culture and Spirituality from the Sophia Center at Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif. He blogs at .