Life and Death Matters
by Cordell Boone
Guest Contributor
With a few dollar bills and a pocket of change, I headed towards the cafeteria downstairs in the building were I work to get a cup of green tea. It was my way of trying to stay healthy, although the amount of honey I used counteracted my good intentions. I then stopped at the newspaper stand to get a muffin to compliment the tea--banana nut and full of calories, another act of self-sabotage.
While there, I picked up a sympathy card for a friend whose mother recently died. After calling him a couple of times only to leave messages on his machine, I decided to send a card, to let him know that my thoughts were with him.
This morning the news broadcasted the [then] imminent death of Pope John Paul II, while at the same time providing follow up stories about the very public death of Terri Schiavo and the battle that ensued between her husband and family at her deathbed.
Death, an act once considered very sacred and private (which still is to some) has started to become a public media circus. It seems as though families and nations alike have been recently using the act of death as a means to further their own agendas. Death has been used for political purposes to raise public consciousness, as done by groups like ACT-UP. This past Sunday, Christians around the world celebrated Easter, the most public and some would consider revolutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As I watched television and read the paper, these recent events reminded me of the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show, where a man finds out his whole life is just a tv show, on display for the whole world to see. Look at the action that President Bush took as a sign of support to the Schindler family, and a show of his own belief in the “sanctity” of life.
Is all of this done for the benefit, or at the expense, of the deceased? What would they have to say about the attention being paid to the way they died?
Rarely, do I hear about a person’s life except in death. Until Johnnie Cochran’s death this week, I didn’t know about some of the work that he did pre- O.J. And I doubt many of us had heard of Rashawn Brazell or Sakia Gunn until tragedy happened to them.
Here’s a thought: Why don’t we take the time to celebrate people’s lives while they are still with us instead of after they have died? And wouldn’t it be nice to do so without motive, rather than after they have won an award or done something noteworthy? Why not celebrate each other’s lives publicly and allow people to die privately?
I hope that by sending my friend this card, I allow him the privacy he needs to grieve, while simultaneously letting him know that I am with him in at this very private time.
Cordell Boone lives in Albany, N.Y.
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You know, I was watching the news the night the Pope died and they had a graphic up that read "The Death of Pope John Paul" that looked very much like a Movie Logo, with custom typeface and everything. I thought it was pretty tasteless.
Thanks, Cordell
Posted by: The LoveHater at April 11, 2005 6:52 PM