By Tommy Acosta
(January 17, 2021)
Whether with a bang or whisper, Death always has its way.
Again, Death comes to Sedona, taking two of its luminaries in one fell swoop.
Last week it took Turquoise Buffalo owner Geri Shultz and Out of Arica owner Bill Jump, killing them with Covid.
It was sudden, swift and unforgiving. One minute they were here and the next they were not.
Death feasted in 2020 on hundreds of thousand here in our country and countless more across the globe.
And each life taken, each person who once was, left with all their dreams behind, all their accomplishments, all their loves and hates and all their memories — gone, in a puff.
Is that then what Death is? An eraser of who we were, are and could have been?
All that hard work we put into life, all the things we construct, accumulate, design and build, everything we once believed in or fought for, gone forevermore. We become nothing but a memory held by those waiting their turn.
Geri built a beautiful jewelry business in Uptown Sedona that served the community or decades. She was loved by many. Cantankerous, successful, giving and kind, she is gone.
Bill created Out of Africa, an adventure for those that love animals in the wild and always dreamed of being close enough to them to feel their raw energy and power. He was a visionary with a glowing personality that touched everyone who knew him. Also gone.
Death took them. Like so many gone before. Their bodies cremated or buried. No longer animated. No longer here to talk with or hold, share stories and warmth.
Death never takes no for an answer. It takes what it wants, when it wants it and we mortals can’t do a thing to stop it. Sooner or later, it will collect your life and the lives of everyone you have ever loved, hated or known.
This virus has become Death’s favorite scythe for reaping its grim harvest. Few of us, if any, have not seen a loved one taken in 2020.
And this year has already started with record numbers of us being killed by the virus.
Death is so final. There is no return. When you are gone that’s it. You are gone. We exist only in the memories of the undead. And soon those memories are gone as well.
So, all we really have is this moment. To live free or in fear of Death is our choice.
Put up a fight. Rage against it. Give every moment of life your full and fearless attention. Love like crazy and banish fear because inevitably, one day, there will be nothing left to fear because there will be nothing left of you.
This is an advertisement
8 Comments
OMG! Talk about a depressing article. For one, you can die a total unknown or failure or you could die as someone who made he world a better place while they were alive. And if you accomplish something great and permanent your name and memory will last forever, like the great poets, composers and conquerers of the past. Then there are the children you leave behind; your descendants. You live on through them. I admit it is sad watching someone who accomplished great things while alive, when they get dementia and they forget even their name before forgetting how to breathe and dying. That’s kind of unfair. So I guess you are right about one thing, all we really have is the present.
Editors Sedona. Biz and Larson newspapers , how about printing these thoughts .
Did Hydroxychloroquil work ? Maybe it did when the Trumpites drank it blocking their votes last November to cause the vote fraud. Or is the scuttlebuck right that it was solely employed to prevent pigs from getting the virus instead.
Makes more sense than the way I hear the Trump goons tell it.
Any better reasons ??
John
There is an old saying. Be wary of people with two first names. Actually, a good friend of mine was saved by the hydroxy. My doctor gave me a supply just in case. The friggin’ vaccine producers killed it. They wanted no competition. If there was even only one thing Trump was right about, it was the malaria drug. Fauci will make trillions from the vaccines he patented.
In writing this, in no manner do I detract from the pains experienced by those who have lost friends and relatives. Grief is real and experienced/expressed in many ways. Positive thoughts to all concerned.
The thing is, I do not believe anyone died. No-one. Not ever. Indeed, I’m unable to recall a time when I did (if I did) believe in death.
We have been taught (programmed?) to believe in death. People believe it to such an extent that some attempt to kill others.
When I am told something is so I immediately question it. Seek proof of claim. After decades of searching there is no such proof to be found. None.
There is some circumstantial evidence to be found,certainly, such as may be found in morgues and graveyards but what dowefind in thee places? Dead people? No,we find Life-less bodies, that’s all.
When our bodies have served their purpose (or should have done) we leave ’em.
We are the individuated aspects of the human expression of Life which temporarily animate these biological/physical/material bodies.
We require, out of necessity, material forms in order to share, experience and express ourselves in a material environment. When the appropriate time comes and we leave ’em and find ourselves in a different environment (for want of a better word, let’s say a “Spiritual” environment) we find ourselves with ‘Spiritual’ bodies suited to that environment.
People ask, “Prove this” to which I respond, “Give proof of first claim – namely, that we die” and none has been forthcoming.
Die-hard materialists believe they are bodies having Life while in fact they are Life temporarily animating their bodies. Many will not, or can not, entertain any alternative. That’s okay, they’ll find out soon enough but in the meantime, I have to say it is often difficult engaging with folks who believe they are no more than walking, talking meat.
A totally different approach to Death there, Intel. Forgot for a moment when I wrote this article that our bodies are not who we are. Emotions cloud.
We are the spark that animates the meat. The meat does not produce the spark. Duh! It’s just that there have been so many people shucking the husks of their bodies and moving on to whatever lately I forgot that very basic foundation of understanding we the eternals have. We are not our bodies!
Thanks for reminding me again that rotting cadavers are not the people who shed them.
This article reminds me of Steve Jobs. Abandoned at birth put up for adoption. Dropped out of college. Thrown out of the billion dollar business he started by treacherous board members. Diagnosed with cancer and subsequently died from cancer at a young age. Live each day as it was your last. Whether your rich or poor you can’t take it with you. Experiences, family and friends was the keynote in all his speeches. To know death as he did opened the door to appreciate life. Erased. Forgotten. Probably Mr. Acosta. But, I would suggest the mission is not to be remembered by others. No sir. The mission is learn about the nature of the spark that sheds the container and returns to the flame. The better door leads us inside. Not outside.
A Nobel Tribute to our fellow senior Sedonians. You are a noble scribe. Keep up the good work.
Indeed one of the most depressing things I have ever read but it is also a wake up call to reality. So many of us bury our emotions because it is way too painful. Such is the case with having have lost so many this year.
To the goon who had to take the opportunity to bash Trump, good luck buddy! No need to elaborate.
I too know many and even a few in California whose lives were saved by the very drug mentioned here by the ignorant moron.
Are you ready yet to admit Trump did more harm than good to the country?