During a lesson about the earth today, a student asked me:

"Do we ever leave this earth?"
Not sure if I am capable to talk about death with a 5-year-old, I hesitated, but still replied:
"Well, when you die you would leave this earth...."

"Why don't we live forever?"
I decided to not shy away from serious & complex verbiage, and replied:
"Well, we're humans.  Human fraility...you know?  We will eventually grow old and die.."

"Well, will we go to outer space?" 
Diverting hit attention to something else, I joking said, "well, if you become an astronaut, you can fly to outer space. "

Then seemingly having discussed this matter with other adults, he said
"When we die...do we go up to the sun?  Like angels?  And will we still be connected?  And what does connected mean, Ms. Kwan?"

I took my hand out & held his hand.  "Connected means we're together, like we are now."

He seemed reassured after that, smiled back at me & returned to his book. 

It's been such a pleasurable read ... that I regret speeding through this memoir rather than delight in the anecdotes of the family of three, transporting their 21st century urban lives and spend 4 seasons on a farm like people would in the 1900's. 

Among the many passages this rang true to my heart -- as I venture out for a bit of time travel in the coming weeks to my parents' places of childhood, tracing the remnants of their past ..

An excerpt of the author & his conversation with a neighbor named John.
----

"Why bother about the past?"

He (John) is silent for a minute.  "When you think about it, the past is all we have.  It's where t lives in us all .... we've been," he says. "And we sure as hell don't know where we're going."

"then it's a guide for how to live?" I ask.

"I don't think the past should dictate the future, but it's a good foundation.  Passing down culture from generation to generation is one of the things that separates man from other creatures... we find ourselves through the long trail of those who've come before us."

Those who don't care about the past are disoriented, he says, showing no regard for the land, for humanity, for themselves... the skills Heather and I have learned, the hardships and joys we've experienced, the people we have met during this year in forgotten America , have awakened me to the power of the past.  I think of Clyde Tillman & his intuitive grasp of draft horses, Michael & his shaving horse, Bill & his heirloom tomatoes...I think about the relentless march of progress.  The past may be easy to forget , but it is not dead. ... this project isn't about escape.  It's about exploring those inalienable realities facing humanity since the dawn of time -- food, water, nature, community.  It's about finding our place in the continuum of history...

By Oswald Chambers
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20:24 It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis. What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfill the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing. Acts 20:24 states Paul's almost sublime annoyance at being asked to consider himself; he was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument - Remember how 'useful you are here, or - Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His.