We Glorify Life and Demonize Death
Life’s a gift, we’re told. You’re lucky to be alive. Over and over again, we receive the message that to be alive is a miracle and that our birth was a special blessing. Yet, our parents signed our death certificate the minute we were born whether they’re comfortable with the idea of death or not.
We glorify life but demonize death even though death is just as common as life.
The truth of the matter is, we didn’t get to choose to be alive. It wasn’t so much a gift as something that was thrust upon us. Plus, there’s very little that we got to choose when this gift was handed to us. Our DNA, culture, parents, language, traditions, looks, the wiring in our brains, socio economic bracket, gender, IQ, you name it, was all wrapped up in the gift that we were handed when we found ourselves unexpectedly alive and kicking.
Our gift didn’t come with a return policy either.
Nope! The only way we were going to get out of it was to die. And, of course, our culture told us that to choose death over life was selfish, maybe even a mortal sin. Why? Because life was a gift. We’d been chosen to receive this gift. How dare we take it for granted.
There is a reason for our existence.
Wow! What a guilt trip to lay upon human beings. I doubt any other animal on the planet has to deal with such nonsense. They, too, may be wired to survive and reproduce, but their sense of self fortunately limits them from such feelings of personal importance and delusions of grandeur.
Furthermore, there’s nothing about the gift we were handed that was even remotely designed to be equally distributed. My gift isn’t the same as yours.
To make matters even worse, the odds of getting the perfect gift is about as good as winning the lottery.
We got what we got and then in order to survive had to learn to make the best of it.
Okay, I’m the first to admit that the cosmos is pretty dang amazing.
When I take the time to actually shut up, put away my tediously, mind-numbing preoccupation with mundanity, I’m easily swept away by the vast mysteries of the universe.
We don’t take the time out of our BUSY lives to actually appreciate and admire the universe, nature, or the almost deafening sounds of the teeming masses of life eeking out a living on this planet.
I suspect that if we did, we’d soon realize that we’re not even a speck on the radar screen of LIFE. We’re of zero importance.
In order to honor our PLACE on this planet, humans, the animal with the big brain, must feel important, however. Survival isn’t enough. We must feel that we matter in the big picture. To be reminded that we don’t, rattles our sense of self.
That level of self awareness bothers most people.
Plus we inherited a tribe that supposedly helps us meet our instinctual goal to survive and reproduce. So, the demand to stay alive in order to contribute to the welfare of the tribe is a cultural expectation that we’ve unconsciously accepted.
To choose to die, no matter how intense our suffering may be isn’t just frowned upon, but deemed a sin punishable by law.
When our luck runs out, there’s no acceptable way out. We’re expected to suffer, preferably in silence, and to continue to be grateful for the gift we received when we were born.
All other life is not revered or glorified, however.
Just human life. We eat, hunt, kill, and ignore all other forms of death. Death is all around us every minute of every day. Nature doesn’t seem to hold our glorified view of life. Something is devouring or destroying something else at all times. We can’t hear trees, bees, butterflies, fleas, or elephants screaming in terror because we don’t really think that the life they were gifted is of equal importance to ours.
Although the lives of pets may have finally taken second place to our lives.
Not to the extent that we expect them to suffer endlessly with the life they were gifted, however. In fact, we have a completely different perspective about their short lives. Suffering is not to be endured. If there’s no cure for what is causing them pain, we’re expected to do the humane thing, end their suffering, allow them to check out at a scheduled time. To force our pets to suffer is considered cruel an unusual punishment.
Of course, when it comes to our own lives, many humans fear death more than they fear suffering.
So, we’ve created a slew of stories about what comes next. We might be destined to flourish, but then again, we might also be tortured in the next life. Yippeeeee. More fun times.
So, even though we’re suffering here on earth, at least, we kinda sorta know what to expect. We cling to what is familiar, even when it sucks, because the unknown is even more terrifying.
I don’t think we can easily change our human tendencies to overthink, embellish, or distort our reality with wishful thinking. At least not on a cultural level. Maybe as an individual we could reshape our thinking about life and death. I’m working on it.
I just turned seventy-one a few months ago, and frankly, I think I finally view death in a friendlier fashion.
I’m no longer so much afraid of dying but would love to choose the way I die. There are some gruesome ways to go if you catch my drift. I’ve put in my order for taking a nap and just not waking up. Yeah. That would be awesome.
Whether that nap happens naturally or I assist it a little if need be will remain to be seen.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
