“We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles.

Meantime within man is the soul of the whole.”

The Over-Soul – Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the great scheme of life, I don’t know much about death. However, I think I have found a way to put the proverbial round peg of life into the square hole of death. At least for me.

Like most folks, I spend my days among the living. My readings, musings, and conversations are mainly focused on living and lives. I read from and about the famous and common folks as well. Their triumphs and tribulations are of interest to me. Facebook and instant messaging help keep me in touch with the living, and Ancestry.com helps me navigate the lineage of folks I knew and those I never met.

Like most folks, I have known the death of family and friends over the years. I think most of my kin are casket-buried in the Sunset View Cemetery and a small plot in Toney Holler, both in southern West Virginia.

For a time, I served on an Army Honor Guard burial team at Arlington National Cemetery. I mostly remember my first and last burial. At my first, my eyes met those of a crying family member as we folded the flag. It was all I could do to not cry myself. The last gravesite ceremony was just me, along with a pastor, parents, and a child-sized felt covered casket, which I carried to the grave. It remains among the saddest memories of my life.

“I’m the one that’s gonna have to die

When it’s time for me to die

So let me live my life

The way I want to, yeah.”

                                                                   If 6 was 9 – Jimi Hendrix

Somewhat fluent in death rituals, I had my departure planned for a time. A Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church service (flexing my non-expiring Deacon creds), classy wood casket, the Asbury United Methodist Church choir singing a rocking version of “Power in the Blood,” and piped-in Jimi Hendrix’s “If 6 was 9” as family, friends, and attendees file out onto the bright sunshine of God herself welcoming me home.

After a time, I soured on the spectacle. My pastor retired, I quit going to church, and I noted an uptick in folks opting for cremation and simpler, less-costly rituals. My choices now seem to be a Costco casket or a can that once held salted, roasted nuts.

The upside to ashes is having your children spread a pinch of dusty remains at each place you ever lived. I count no less than 12 places and would involve international travel. This completed, they could move on to clearing out the attic, garage, and basement before the particulars of the will are revealed.

That settled for now, I reflect on body and soul at death do they part. I have thought of death being akin to a colonoscopy. I am unconscious in a dark serene place. The scope team is talking about divisive politics or making fun of my junk. After a time, my death experience ends. A goddess of the light welcomes me back with a can of ginger ale and a straw.

After a lifetime of sermons and philosophical treatises, I think Blazie Tokar got it right.

I came upon him in a miners’ graveyard in Fayette County, West Virginia. His obit said he was about 60 when he died of heart disease. There was no next of kin. All that stands in testament to his being is a simple gravestone with a simpler message: Gone on.

There I had it. No walking toward the light. No Lincoln-like “a-mouldering in the grave.”  No sorting of candidates for rapture or those eternally screwed.

Gone on is a grand cosmic galactic message: Get over yourself. The soul goes on. Your body is destined to be space dust. Let Joni Mitchell help you soften the blow by identifying as “stardust” and/or “golden” on your way to a galactical garden.

In short, it seems our souls go on to the next, but our baggage and body remain on our original flight – Spaceship Earth. Unfortunately, our craft is becoming the run-down trailer park of the universe and a prime target for a man-made or cosmic implosion.

Amen. Please place your trays in the upright position and buckle up.

Notes:

https://emersoncentral.com/ebook/The-Over-Soul.pdf

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – If 6 Was 9 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

Jimi Hendrix YouTube = https://youtu.be/Zhrcf0szbXg?si=LrRqxaA5iiLrefvp

Power in the Blood YouTube = https://youtu.be/9NYgUvOcLWU?si=UN5ufhG4t1QyNxYE

Cremation is becoming the American way of death – The Washington Post

Joni Mitchell – Woodstock – lyrics

Joni Mitchell YouTube = https://youtu.be/CEBmKi2xmoU?si=dyGCV9LbhHMRTA87