When Death smiles at you and you smile back, something changes. This is an explosive moment. A threshold moment. This moment can anchor your soul when the locusts come, or when the plague claims your livestock. It will tether you to the masts, bracing you against the sirens. For the rest of your life, you will draw water from the well of this moment. Once you face death, other problems don’t matter as much. The cold rain no longer affects you—now you welcome the weather on your face. Everything else in your life feels smaller.
