Latest update December 25th, 2024 1:10 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

On Death

Apr 01, 2009 Editorial

In the ancient Indian epic, Mahabharat, the protagonist asks the God of righteousness what is the greatest wonder in the world. After giving the matter some thought, the answer came back: “The way mankind treats death. Everyone who is born knows that he or she will die but each lives as if this eventuality will never arrive.”
For most of us, death is only confronted when someone close passes on and we are forced to deal with the reality of not being able to interact with that person. It is generally a very private experience. And then very quickly we revert to the status quo ante – banishing the intimations of our own mortality to the fringes of our consciousness.
Former President Janet Jagan was cremated yesterday. All that remains of her body are the ashes that would be collected today. Whatever may have been our opinion of her politics, because of the impact of her life on this nation and the very public nature of her funeral, it is one of the few occasions when we, as a people, will be reflecting on this “greatest of wonders” at the same time.
Each of the religions of the world has pronounced on the phenomenon of death: in fact it provides the platform on which they generally ground their systems of morality.
For most, the existence of a soul is posited as contraposed to the body, which we can apprehend physically. At death, the connection between the body and soul is severed; the body decays – “dust to dust” – and the eternal soul survives.
There is a wide array of options as to what may be the fate of that soul, but all generally concur that our actions on earth, while we are in possession of our body, determine that fate. A moral and virtuous life is therefore proposed as literally good for the soul.
And that, we suspect, is what had bemused the God of righteousness. Humans are granted a finite length of time to live in a manner that may redound to their eternal benefit but most of them generally, in the vernacular, blow it. Now there may be some who are agnostic on the existence of “souls” and other such ethereal constructions – the Buddhists, for one.
But even they propound a virtuous life in the here and now – the path of moderation.
With the acceptance of a multi-dimensional world beyond our three-dimensional ken, science is losing its scepticism of the possibility of realities not subjected to experimental scrutiny. But even in its heyday of life and simply the interaction of “matter and energy”, its practitioners did not advocate a life of complete hedonism.
There was, after all, the matter of finite resources.
So as we reflect on the meaning of death, we can do worse than consider the life of Janet Jagan. She may have her detractors but no one can deny the following: she raised a family but found time to work incessantly and continuously to improve living conditions in Guyana for all. And she did this for some sixty-odd years.
We do not know her belief on the existence of the soul but we do know that her life had to have earned her great merit in whatever hereafter there is.
The poem, “Death of a Comrade” by Martin Carter (Poems of Resistance, 1954) fits her as few others:
Death must not find us thinking that we die.
Too soon, too soon
our banner draped for you.
I would prefer
the banner in the wind
Not bound so tightly
in a scarlet fold
not sodden sodden
with your people’s tears
but flashing on the pole
we bear aloft
down and beyond this dark dark lane of rags
Dear Comrade
if it must be
you speak no more with me
nor smile no more with me
then let me take
a patience with a calm
for even now the greener leaf explodes
sun brightens stone
and all the river burns.
Now from the mourning vanguard moving on
dear Comrade I salute you and say
Death will not find us thinking that we die

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

The wait is over, all roads lead to KMTC for their Grand Boxing Day Horse race meet

The wait is over, all roads lead to KMTC for their Grand Boxing Day...

Dec 25, 2024

Over 70 entries in as $7M in prizes at stake  By Samuel Whyte Kaieteur Sports- The time has come and the wait is over and its gallop time as the biggest event for the year-end season is set for the...
Read More
Xhiya Hercules – flipping the script towards Gymnastics history for Guyana

Xhiya Hercules – flipping the script towards...

Dec 25, 2024

Road Warriors, Bent Street, Team Cruel & Gold Is Money into quarter-finals

Road Warriors, Bent Street, Team Cruel &...

Dec 25, 2024

Deol maiden hundred outshines Matthews’ as India take series

Deol maiden hundred outshines Matthews’ as...

Dec 25, 2024

Moraikobai village two days football competition and fun day set for Old and New Year’s Day

Moraikobai village two days football competition...

Dec 25, 2024

BCB thanks cricket fraternity for strong support in 2024

BCB thanks cricket fraternity for strong support...

Dec 25, 2024

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]