Item. I leave the young ladies all the letters they have had from me, assuring them that they need be under no apprehensions from the appearance of my ghost, for I die for none of them.
Item. I leave my mother and my sister to the protection of my friends, if I have any.
I found these excerpts in the Will of Thomas Chatterton. I don’t know that melancholy and satire should, ever so disastrously mingle. If perchance they ever do…
Before I go any further, I would like to mention a more sombre hour. Tragedy has woken, it’s death toll ringing. It is a pain, not made any duller by unbelief, it grips the hearts and minds of a community, three fewer… we your friends and peers express our deepest sympathies.
I didn’t expect that I would write a eulogy… the throat is choked… but I’m compelled to keep writing. We’ve all been told about the gift of youth… but nary, can a word be whispered when it is so ruthlessly robbed. There is nothing satirical to be said… no, not a word, this is a real- world encounter with life and death. It seems to me, a form of mockery, to encourage the living to more diligently use their allotted time. It may in fact be a pursuit of noble merit, but I’m not buying the whole “let’s appreciate what we do have” sentiments. I am strictly referring to the absurdity of emotional idealism, not disagreeing with the positive attributes of gratitude. An honest reflection on eternity…human frailty… and mortality might be less comforting, but I assure you that, for the deceased, they are matters most worthy of attention, reflection, and corresponding action.
Many people will say that these three had a life for a reason and a death for a reason. I wonder if you can enlighten me... what reason could an early death possibly have? Few will remember these people, and it is sad because i know that when i die it will be the same. for whatever reason it almost makes me feel as though my life has to reason. which i know is a lie, but if a death has to reason, why did the life?
ReplyDeletewow i just mind fucked myself!
Your question is valid, and the answer might be more frustrating than it is helpful. I will do my best though. We live in a world that in which chaos and calamity exist. There is not one easily identifiable reason, but I personally believe that they were simply victims within that system.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to briefly illustrate that sometimes things don’t happen for any one particular “reason.” We live in a society that has been taught a thought process that was taught by the Greeks. This unfortunately leaves us ill prepared to deal with unexpected circumstances. I did some research this a.m. and have taken excerpts and pasted them here:
Greek thought insists on rendering everything into logically consistent patterns, on systematizing it, on organizing it into tight, carefully reasoned theologies. In our culture we can’t stand to live with inconsistency or contradiction. We think, for example, in terms of "prophetic timetables." Here again is the Western concept of time – points on a line. The sequential order in which God will do things is of no concern to the Hebrew – only that he will act. The Western mind wants to have the "prophetic timetable" neatly arranged in time and space. We want to "tick off" events as they occur according to the pre-ordained schedule. This mentality is foreign to the Hebrew mind.
There is a Hebrew thought process known as Block Logic. It is very contrary to Greek ideology. The Hebrew belief is that God is what He has revealed Himself to be, not what we have theorized Him to be. He’s a living dynamic being. Hebraic understanding is that Divine Sovereignty and human free will are not incompatible. To them there is no violation of their free will as God accomplishes his purposes upon the earth and in history. There is no such thing as “fate.” Fate is a blind force, which dictates to man, what is to happen to him. Rabbi Akivah said, “All is subject to providence, yet man possesses free will.” This is the correct view; otherwise prayer does not make sense at all and is an exercise in futility. The Hebrew mind then will accept truth that is taught on both sides of the paradox in block logic The Hebrew mind then can handle this tension. Truth is an encounter with Divine reality through doing right. Walking in truth and experiencing truth is more important than rationally analyzing truth. That means we accept the fact that the irreconcilable is reconcilable only to God.
I think it is obvious that life and death are inseparable. It is most unfortunate when it is taken prematurely, but it doesn’t render it as worthless. Doubtless you have heard that your words and actions will echo for eternity… and that to me… is reason enough to pursue life and to live it well.