We closed yesterday’s blog, day 2 of sharing from Sahil Bloom’s essay from August 20, 2025, with

Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting… Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning… (Ecclesiastes 7.2 – 4, NKJV)

In other words, there are more lessons in a funeral than in a wedding! And Sahil speaks to that in the essay we’ve been looking at: Live Like It’s The Last Time. He writes:

Shortly after publishing my book, I was asked by a journalist why I had chosen to include such gut wrenching stories of love and loss. Of a wonderful woman named Alexis Lockhart who had lost her son Jackson just after his 20th birthday. Of a soulful man named Erik Newton who had lost his wife Aubrie when their daughter was just two.

My answer was simple:

To create ripples.

You see, through pain, tragedy, and loss, there is light. It shines through from that darkness. A blinding insight. A clarity. A flash from the other side.

These stories have the power to shine that light on your path. To show you the way. To change the way you live.

Sahil loops back to the story that inspired the essay: Wade Lytal, who lost his 8-year-old daughter in the Texas floods of July 4:

Sitting at my desk, writing this piece, I feel an immense gratitude:

That the ripples I hoped to create were real. That a young father in Texas took the stories to heart. That he loved with every ounce. That he had no regrets. That he lived like it was the last time.

And I feel an immense privilege: to be able to share this story. A story of love. Of loss. Of a family in the throes of grief who need our love right now. Of a beautiful little girl gone far too soon.

Of the ripples that her light will create in the world.

They’ve already created one in mine. Last night, my son crawled into bed with us at 1am and woke me up. I was tired and had an alarm set for my usual 4am wake up.

I wanted to tell him to go back to bed, but as he cuddled up next to me, I stopped and said these words in my head:

There will be a last time he crawls into bed next to you. Live like it’s today.

Again,

Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting… Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning… (Ecclesiastes 7.2 – 4, NKJV)