Memorials

The battle against mortality is futile. Unlike creatures who cannot understand the place of death in life, human beings live with the conscious or subconscious certainty of death from an early age. Many of us wage a lifelong struggle against the inevitable in our minds, while living mindlessly as though we are immortal. This can make some of us quite crazy. 

The men who shove the young into battle are the first to weep at dedication ceremonies for "The Fallen". Their tears on the cold slabs of marble they erect to their own victims evaporate quickly. Those tears are meaningless. These memorials are salutes to the perpetuity of violence and slaughter of the young to the gods of politics, greed and megalomania. 

If all human beings were educated to understand and appreciate the preciousness of life which comes with the acceptance of death, the human world would work its way to inevitable peace. What stands in the way? Politics stand in the way. Some religions stand in the way. Money stands in the way. As long as human beings prioritize their decisions about life under the subjugation of politics, religion and money, life itself will be cheap. 

Make your own life a living memorial with practice. My life is a memorial to all those who are different and have struggled against chronic disease. By being a candid and compassionate person to the best of my abilities in each moment, I am a memorial to the human capacity to live lovingly in peace and joy without aggression, greed or domination of others for power or money. My living memorial, my humanist practice, needs no wreaths or solemn proclamations. It is simply my life and will pass away with me. This is the way of all things.