*This is Chapter 22 From The Book The Rogue Scholar The Rogue To Victory. Chapter 21 is here.

Archive File 006890734pwr Excerpt From Sigmus Practicar's "The Great Mystery"

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Everyone celebrates a birth. If one announces they are with child, it is an occasion for a celebration. But yet, death is an occasion for mourning. If we do not know the reason why we are here, then why should it be an occasion for celebration as indeed it could be that we should mourn a birth and celebrate a death? The division, I postulate, is because of the perception of time. A life beginning is full of possibilities--like a rose that has not yet bloomed. Nobody knows the exact shape it will take, but because the possibilities are so vast and the innocence still intact, it is worthy of celebration. As we become adults, the possibilities become narrower. Our lives are ahead of us, but we become increasingly aware that much is behind us. Much of what we experience as adults is not what we had intended when we were younger, and so life whittles us down little by little until death sweeps us off the stage.

I have never seen a child suggest it would like to become an alcoholic, or live in poverty, or become an abusive spouse. Yet, it would be foolish to suggest that any child will NOT become these things as every generation is rife with examples of this behavior. Something that is cause for celebration when young often when as an adult is a cause for pain and suffering. What happens between these two points to bring such unfortunate circumstances?

Time, and disappointment.  If a child is not nurtured--not allowed to spread its wings in a natural, balanced way, then it becomes an unbalanced adult. Unbalanced adults draw extensively from their childhoods. If the childhood was unfortunate, then the adult in question is predisposed to bad beginnings.

A death marked by a life of alcoholism, for instance, is mourned as especially depressing because subconsciously people see such a life as wasted. But then, does this not imply that life has a purpose and that part of that purpose is not to go about being inebriated? If one does not waste their life and die, why should this not be a cause for celebration?

Life is a mystery, yes. Death sits at the transition between life and death. We speak of death as though it were not part of life, but life brings death. As soon as we celebrate a birth--as soon as life breath is drawn--we are marching inexorably toward our ends. Simply by being alive, we are guaranteeing death. We are guaranteeing suffering. It is true we are also granting the possibility of fulfillment as well, but it is impossible to take such good things without the acceptance of the curse they necessitate. Death is not the opposite of life, merely a part of it. 

The Great Mystery starts with why we celebrate a birth and mourn a death.

Blessed be the Shapers!

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