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June 15, 2005 So live, that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan, which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. These lines are from the classic poem, “Thantatopsis,” by William Cullen Bryant. This poem was read at my uncle’s funeral years ago, I was sixteen. The words stuck with me for forty-plus years. Why? I am not certain. I am not a religionist, nor even a believer, but I’m not sure Bryant was necessarily trying to make a religious point with these words. Instead, I think the great poet was talking about man’s fear of death. Why must it be feared? Why go like “the quarry-slave at night, scourged to his dungeon?” Whether or not there is a god should not be a factor in accepting death as the ultimate price for living. We are simply…quite simply born to die. Of course, it would be nice if certain religionists were correct and golden streets and harps do await us when we take that last sip of air, or would it? Most religions teach of a place polarized from the golden gates, a place that burns like an inferno eternally…hell. Hence, if we haven’t walked that straight and narrow path preached in church, we will suffer damnation. Wow, bummer. I prefer to look at William Cullen Bryant’s perspective. I think we will face our death “like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lie down to pleasant dreams.” I’m not sure about the “dream” thing. Is that such a bad deal? To think that I will not suffer pain, emotional and physical, after death is a damn good idea. I’m going to go with that idea. Sure, there is pain in the act of dying for many, religious or not. Death does not discriminate. It takes everyone. Somewhere, I think, it states that rain falls on the “good and the bad alike.” That just might be a folk saying so don’t quote me.
I think atheists get a bum wrap sometimes. Some critics say we are doomed to hell. That’s impossible to conclude since atheists don’t believe in an afterlife of any form. Atheists, for the most part, merely want to die and become a part of Nature. And, Nature will continue until man finally destroys himself and the beautiful blue marble upon which he lives.
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