Corey Monteith: Sadness for Glee

"It's all about perseverance. 

Absolute perseverance. 

You can always get back up.”   

Corey Monteith

Apparently, Corey could not get up again when he returned  to his hotel room in the early morning hours and was not seen alive again.  He admitted to his drug addiction problem, had entered rehab treatment in the past, and without the autopsy findings -- the sudden death of a 31 yr old without foul play points to his recurring demon.  We grieve for his family, friends, and colleagues on the show.  He said several times that Glee turned his life around.  There is a lesson he bequeaths to all of us on the stage of our lives---we are all members of a cast, we are in the thick of a plot and our lives depend on each other.  The one person solo performances can be done--for sure!--but they are the most dangerous when we run out of lines and the plot runs out in the dead of night. 

 So what is the way up the mountain of life?  We go hand in hand, tied on by some enduring thread that links us together.  We are most at our peril we lose those relationships and step out of community.  Careful!  I am not saying that we cannot step out of community.  I am saying that those with special struggles need to make intentional choices about staying with others when on the risky side of the mountain.  

I have always loved William Stafford's 1988 poem, The Way It Is.   It speaks to how we go through change, sometimes risky changes...yet we don't ever led go of the thread that connects us with others.
 
The Way It Is
by:  William Stafford

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.