I think we may be extremely confused about the nature of death, particularly for human beings. Of course, we experience a personal sense of loss, and we are scripted to do so whether or not this seems ‘natural’ — which I think it is — but what I mean is this: I think when a being we love dies, there is a profound gift that arises during this process. It is, really, an invitation to intimacies far deeper than are our ordinary habit or inspiration. But this is only the beginning, for the actual gift is beyond all possible description. Part of us travels with them. And part of them travels as us. Death is the granting of an abundance which we represent with ‘the inheritance’. Let me be clear: the physical inheritance is without value. It is the inheritance of grace and presence that is the gift of death, not valuables. The latter only serve to signify the former, and, without them, are not only not a gift — they are a curse.