The Presence of Loved Ones Lost

However you celebrate/observe today and the next few days, I'd suggest spending some time with the presence of loved ones lost that remain within us. The love is still there and will outlast grief, loss, and any recriminations. For agape (loving-kindness) is a recognition, which cannot be denied, that we are deeply connected, an anamnesis (end of forgetting) that the appearances of distances and differences that separate us are a thin coating upon a deeper root. Like a growth of aspen trees, we are all connected in ways that cannot be seen.