“Quello che siete, fummo”
“What you are, we were………..
“Quello che siamo, sarite”
“What we are, you shall be”…….……
This is a quote from an Italian Cemetery……..but its meaning transcends culture and time……..
The words speak from those buried in the ground…..to those walking above…….
To me, it is the most powerful quote…..for it encompasses life’s journey…….the beginning of life and the beginning of death.
All of us who trod the earth are walking above the remains of those before us……and one day we will be walked upon as well………
Perhaps Death is not something to be feared……….for in each of our ending steps, commences the steps of our beginning path.
A quote from a well known American sums up the thoughts of a life well lived very succinctly……
“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain”~~~~Samuel Clemens……
I love to wander cemeteries, the dead speak so eloquently amidst the crumbling stones and tangled vines…….
Every man made stone crumbles……every God made vine rejuvenates…….
The stones and the vines speak along with the dead……..
Cemeteries are peaceful places…..quiet places to listen…….and hear what speaks to you.
Highgate, in London, is perhaps, my favorite cemetery......wander its ivy laden paths through my gallery if you have never had the good fortune to trod upon this London sacred ground.
“Quello che siete, fummo”…….
“Quello che siamo, sarite”……..
Namaste,
Shirl