Internal Eternal Flames

Turn on any television network , glance at any newpaper or internet news feed and your eyes will be drawn toward the eternal flame burning in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.. The flame adorns the burial site of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22,1963. The nation suffered a horrific loss that day. It happened exactly fifty years ago and yet the loss is just as tremendous and so the flame flickers on.

Time does not, as it turns out, heal all wounds. They become bearable. But we do not forget. We do not forget the promise our beloved President Kennedy conveyed to our nation in his brief 1000 days of service in the highest office in the land. He made us feel hopeful and capable of great accomplishments. He represented a better world composed of human rights and peace. As often said, it was Camelot.

Billy Crystal is currently appearing on Broadway in 700 Sundays. It is a return engagement after a 2004 Broadway run and a 2009 national book tour. The play is about Crystal's father who died when Billy was 15 years old. He determined that he spent 700 Sundays with his dad. Audiences are treated to comical and heart-wrenching moments about his life. It is his artistic eternal flame for his father and for their relationship.

Tuesdays With Morrie is Mitch Albom's literary tribute to his college professor, Morrie Schwartz. The book has sold over 15 million copies in more than 50 editions world-wide. Schwartz had been his professor some twenty years prior to the publication of the book but his impact had made a lasting impression. Albom renewed his relationship with him in 1995 when Schwartz was dying of ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease.  And yet another flame is lit.

Statues are unveiled. Stadiums are named. Impressive architectural structures are built and dedicated. All of these gestures are heartfelt lasting memorials. They are each flames of remembrance.

And the greatest of these---the most permanent is the internal eternal flame. We acknowledge and remember and laud our lost by daily memories. We remember their voice...their touch...their humor...their facial expressions...their gestures...their advice...  We pay homage to them each and every moment that we breathe because we are an extension of them. We celebrate them through our recollections which are constant and love-filled. We carry internal eternal flames.They cannot be extinguished.

Whether it was 1000 days or 700 Sundays or a couple of years in college or more or less, matters not. What matters is that they were here. We were blessed with that time. The amount of it is far less important than its existence. They remain a part of us. And thanks to our eternal flames, they are never forgotten. The heart and soul of our departed is burning within us in an imperishable unceasing flame.