If I Should Die Before You Wake
 Paul Keddy
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 1997 Creative Bound Press
  ISBN: 092116548X
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Instructions on the Art of Life.

When Professor Paul Keddy was given a death sentence by his doctors, he realized he had better leave something about how he looked at life for his family, & he'd better take stock of where he'd come from, where he was then & what he might do with the rest of his life, such as it was.

“We all want to be happy, but it sometimes seems that the more we struggle to achieve happiness, the more we encounter pain. How, then, can we live a meaningful life and die without regret?” Page 5. So starts Paul Keddy's short & to the point, ascerbic & insightful, lean & luminous little book about how to make friends with ourselves & “live a king's life.”

Now, anyone who knows this old dame, can already see my hackles rising at the mention of monarchy. My Beloved & I have gone a round or two on this very subject & ended up in a truce. Royal pain, notwithstanding, I delved deeper into If I Should Die Before You Wake & unearthed a treasure of inspiration, entertainment & Big Thoughts.

In this short book we are introduced to some basic elements of human experience which can help us wake up to a genuine life. Paul Keddy, raised in North America in a Christian society who is a trained skeptical scholar, introduces us to his teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Buddhist meditation master, poet & scholar.

Paul Keddy starts out with the biggies: Peace, Spirituality, Confidence & Fear. Then the Instructions come in the form of Steadfastness, Simplicity, Accommodation, Gentleness, Duty & Stewardship. On to Experiences: Joy, Anger, Shame, Aloneness, Ignorance, Revulsion & Naivete until Waking Up to Inspiration, Defeat, Death, Celebration & Liberation.

At the risk of being labeled a sexist reviewer, If I Should Die Before You Wake is a good manly book, from which boys, girls & women can also gain.

I liked what I read, it told me of things I didn't know, of ideas I had already thought, of practices I have already begun, however, as an instruction book for youngsters when they ask The Big Questions: “Why am I here? Where did I come from? What should I do?” If I Should Die Before You Wake offers some attainable first steps.

(05/25/03)

Rebecca