The Silent Teacher: How Death Helps Us Understand the Beauty of Life

Death is an interesting part of life. I have learned over the years that it affects us in different ways. We don’t all process it the same way. Yesterday, I received a text that said, “Bad News.”  

I didn’t know what to expect but I made the phone call. My wife was on the other end and she told me that Sparkle (Kid President’s Guinea Pig) had died. I knew that KP was going to take hard. It hurt us to see her sad. She had become attached to her pet over the years. I knew I was going to miss the moments that I would sneak her apples and tomatoes. These were two of her favorite snacks. I asked KP if she wanted a funeral or just a burial. She chose to go with the straight burial.  

Even though some reading this may not see the story behind the story, let me help you. I went home last night and I was more than just “Dad” to KP. I was chaplain, mortician, and gravedigger. Even though this was for a pet, death still affects us.

My concern is when we get to the point that death does not concern us at all. Even though I started with a story about the death of a pet. I want to know where is our outrage is for the death of humanity? We have some that will say that abortion is killing babies and be ready to condemn mothers to hell for having them. However, I learned from a Local Pregnancy Center that sometimes the reason why young women consider abortion is because of their families. I know of situations where “Christian” fathers have encouraged their daughters to abort their pregnancies because they did not want their daughters having babies by Black guys. I have seen “Christians” have absolutely no remorse for innocent people losing their lives. These “Christians” find a way to justify why these melanated bodies lie spiritless. Here in the United States, I see daily debates about which presidential candidate is better and which one is detrimental to this country. But when I look across this country and even across the world, I see humanitarian crisis after humanitarian crisis that is leading to death. And, it seems like we are tone deaf to death as long as it doesn’t affect our household. In this country, we have food deserts that are leading to bad physical health and poor mental health. These poor nutrients mixed with poverty are creating the perfect mixture for violence and death across our cities. Let’s not forget about the violence that has led to genocide and famines in some countries around the world. I know that we are concerned about the innocent who have died from Israel. However, how many of us are concerned about those who are suffering and dying in Haiti, the Sudan, Kenya, Palestine, and other countries experiencing unrest? Why does our love for ammunition and killing tools outweigh our care for the innocent? When will some of us have the same grief that we have for the loss of our pets that we do for other human beings? Why do we sometimes not show that same energy? We have taken on the attitude of Cain by asking, Am I my brother’s keeper?” Have you become Cain in today’s society?

“Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other peoples’ freedom as well." ~ Assata Shakur