Memento Mori Journal: Remembering I Am Just Dust
Memento mori is a Latin phrase that literally means “Remember you must die.”
Record your deepest thoughts, the goals you want to complete, and the aspirations you have for your life. Because we all know for certain, that one day we will die. Until then, let’s live! Use this journal with that in mind.
This journal is not about being obsessed with death. On the contrary, what we're trying to celebrate is life. The idea is to contemplate your death in order to appreciate your life all the more. This is not a new idea.
The famous Kansas song - Dust in the Wind was written by Kerry Livgren. A beautiful meditation on the fertility of life, “... Just a drop of water in an endless sea... All we do crumbles to the ground…”
Biblical passages such as Genesis 3:19 ("...for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."); Ecclesiastes 3:20 ("All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.") and Isaiah 40:6–8 ("All flesh is grass,... The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.") speak to our eventual end in light of God’s endlessness.
Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP, has several publications dedicated to Memento Mori – Latin for "Remember Your Death" – she helps people to stay present in the day God has granted for them, and be prepared for His loving call to the next world.
The popular poem written by Linda Ellis, “The Dash,” where she contemplates the end of life and how we will be remembered―whether our dash represents a full, joyous life or merely the space between our birth date and death date on our gravestone. How are you going to live the dash that’s in between your years?
Bottom line: Live your life to the fullest since you know one day you're going to die.
Features:
The original 20 illustrations have been commissioned exclusively for this journal. Each illustrated “death” quote will inspire your journey.
An exclusive “flip book” border design.
Over 90 blank pages to record your thoughts.
Why this Death Journal?
I was inspired to create this journal after reading about the mission of Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble of the Pauline order. She is trying to bring back the ancient practice of Memento Mori – Latin for "Remember Your Death." Even my son, with his millennial snarky way, says at each of his birthdays "One more year towards the sweet embrace of death." Yes he’s trying to be funny, but there is a lot of Truth in his words. After all, Death is the great equalizer. It comes for us all, whether king or peasant, rich or poor, it does not discriminate. No matter your race, creed, nationality or political affiliation, it comes for everyone. There's no escaping it. Or is there… ?
The apostle Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians quotes from Hosea,
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55)
And then proceeds to exclaim that we have victory over the sting of death through our Lord Jesus Christ. This Good News is what Sister Noble uses within her "Remember Your Death" philosophy. She just wants it to be an essential aspect of the Christian life, remembering one's death not only because it helps one to live well, but also because it helps all of us to remember what Christ has done for us. She feels as Christians, we remember our death in order to remember our life - Jesus Christ.
The Bible is clear that we are limited creatures – we are dust (Genesis 3:19), we are grass that withers and falls (1 Peter 1:24) and we are “mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). And the Bible is also clear of God’s unlimited power and glory (Psalm 147:4-5). The unlimited God contrasted with our ultimate limitation of death. And yet John 3:16 shows us an escape from death through Jesus Christ His Son. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
With all that in mind, shouldn’t I call this a Life Journal instead of a Death Journal? But there's something poetic about always remembering your destination – your final destination. As Steve Covey said in one of his Seven Habits For Highly Effective People … “Begin with the end in mind” But even so, death is not an end to those who put their faith in a saving God. Just a doorway to a new adventure. Meanwhile, let us record our adventure here and now, within this journal. Remember, death is inevitable, so let’s live our life to the fullest within God’s calling on your life.
~~ Paul Martin (editor), August 2024
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Zak D. Parsons
Zak has always loved symbolic and abstract art. He creates art to be souvenirs of our unfolding stories, reminders of the beauty that surrounds us continually, and beacons of light that call forth a future full of hope. He believes that everyone’s story is meant to be shared and that we all have beauty within us regardless of how disheartening our journey may be.
His journey is all the brighter because of his wife and four beautiful children.
