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This reminds us of something that Derrida persistently emphasizes (emphasized, I guess—will I ever get used to the past tense when thinking of Jacques?): remaining faithful to a thinker will require a certain break; being an authentic "follower" will require that one part ways at some point, in the name of fidelity. While I make no claim to be a follower or "acolyte" of Derrida, I owe him much. And if I must at times depart from the direction of his thinking, this is often in the name of following Jacques Derrida. It will be strange and lonely not being able to find new tracks.

In one of the treasures of his corpus, "Circumfession," Derrida gives us a hint of his hopes in death:

when I am not dreaming of making love, or being a resistance fighter in the last war blowing up bridges or trains, I want one thing only, and that is to lose myself in the orchestra I would form with my sons, heal, bless and seduce the whole world by playing divinely with my sons, produce with them the world's ecstasy, their creation. I will accept dying if dying is to sink slowly, yes, into the bottom of this beloved music.

And so prayers, and tears, for Jacques Derrida. I hope he found this music in the new song of the Beloved.

James K.A. Smith, associate professor of philosophy at Calvin College, is currently visiting fellow in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge. His most recent book is Introducing Radical Orthodoxy: Mapping a Post-Secular Theology (Baker Academic). His work on Derrida will appear with Continuum next year.

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