In ancient American Indian Culture not only was a good & honorable death achievable, it was sought after. |
For the human species, emotionally speaking, if not sudden, the departing soul is certainly subject to many emotions and the survivors are certainly subject to much grief. For many the subject is so uncomfortable that it proves too difficult and painful to contemplate. However, lives led close to Mother Nature tend to lead to a vastly different point of view. My grandfather, a devoutly religious man, used to say, “death is a change in range and nothing strange.” I suppose contemplating those words in conjunction with my ever-evolving experiences in the outdoors lead to my seemingly indifferent emotional views regarding my own eventual demise.
Ironically, when considering the aversion held by many today in our society, in the perfect system of the circle of life, death is one of the two fundamental ingredients - birth and death. And, no matter what megalomaniacal reasoning we employ to convince ourselves otherwise, we are all subject to the rules of nature and we will all eventually pass from this physical world. For man, a good death is the all encompassing worthy end for which a human soul responsibly strives and humbly prays. In nature a good death occurs by default for all Nature’s creatures as they expire while playing their respective roles in the circle of life.
Today in our society there are those who would suggest that there is something inherently wrong with participating in the circle of life. The modern animal rights movement suggests that it is somehow wrong, inhumane, or cruel to harvest from Nature’s bounty for our own sustenance. While all moral and ethical beings would subscribe to the basic underlying principle of the animal rights movement’s premise of respectful treatment of all life, it is flawed reasoning to suggest that causing an animal's death is inhumane and/or disrespectful in and of itself.
Four participants in the circle of life. |
First of all, Nature does not subscribe to the parameters of human emotional reasoning. A hunter and/or trapper who spends their allotted time during the harvest season in Nature understands above all others that the modern animal rights movement would surely consider Nature itself the most inhumane perpetrator in existence.
There are no hospitals, hospice care, or pain and maintenance medications to provide comfort for a diseased or dying animal. There is no policing authority to prevent unfair or premature death. There is no peaceful passing in the night. There is only death from the harsh elements, disease, accident, and/or being consumed. The old and weak are caught and consumed by the strong - a gazelle being disemboweled by lions while still conscious, a squirrel having it’s skin ripped apart by the razor sharp talons and beak of a red-tailed hawk, or a whitetail deer slowly and agonizingly succumbing to the long and drawn-out ravages of blue-tongue disease, these are just a few of the many brutal alternatives wildlife have as opposed to death at the hands of a hunter, trapper, or fisherman. Even though Nature does not ask for or understand human ethics and morals, if one is comforted by human precepts, then it is an undeniable truth that, for those of us who frequently witness true life and death in Nature, death at the hands of man is exponentially more desirable than the end that awaits those creatures who perish by other natural means.
One of the most brilliant minds in the history of the human race...and yet he still accepted our true station within the fabric of life |
So, is there such thing as good death? Absolutely. In the animal kingdom, wildlife harvested and consumed by humans have completed their ecological mandate just as sufficiently as those consumed by any other predator, thus resulting in a good death in Nature. We, as humans, are not outside the scope of Nature. No matter how grandiose our ideals and beliefs, we are simply consumers of Mother Nature's bounty, regardless of our chosen level of consumptive participation within the cycle of life.
It is our responsibility to participate in the circle of life and to teach others to understand and accept the indifferent yet perfect and beautiful design provided in Nature. When a soul is regularly exposed to the true life and death cycle in Nature it becomes exponentially easier to confront our own mortality. Understanding Nature’s Economy makes for easier discussion, understanding, and acceptance of death in the animal kingdom as well as the human kingdom. Physically speaking, they are one in the same. Setting a personal goal of an eventual good death is not a taboo subject but rather an honorable pathway through life. So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly.
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