I Was Just Thinking....

There is a dead kitten in the garden. It's been there for a couple of days already, so the insects have been having a field day. It's a heart-wrenching sight, this tiny form - lifeless, being ravaged by beings 0.000001 times it's size... Brings a tear to the eye.

But I can't help but think that that little kitten has got the better end of the deal in life. It'll not have to know what it's like to be chased, frightened half to death by dogs and humans, drenched (or scalded) by humans with jars of water, what it means to have to forage daily for food, to go hungry for days on end... Yeah, that little critter's certainly got an advantage over all the others in the cat world.

And certainly over us humans. Death seems like a terrible tragedy sometimes (and sometimes, it is). But what is death, really, other than an end to suffering? An end to useless pursuits, none of which we can take with us to the next life.

My aunt said something the other day that rang awfully true. We spend all our lives slogging to get good results, degrees, good jobs... But at the end of the day, life has no guarantees. One can put in so much of work into something, only to have it come to nothing if his life is taken away the very next day.

I suppose she was feeling philosophical, as the daughter of her friend is dying of cancer. She doesn't have long... the cancer has spread everywhere, and there's nothing more to be done. However the really horrific part of this is that she's only 33, and has 2 daughters - one 5 and one 2. It's hard even to think about it. But the tragedy is not for the one dying, but for the ones left behind.

All this makes me wonder whether us humans take ourselves too seriously. We only have to work so hard to get a piece of paper because other humans have dictated it to be so. If only people could see the important things in life are not what you can get or take, but in the giving and receiving of experiences, thoughts and feelings between human beings.

Life isn't about things, it's about people. We spend so much time trying to bring ourselves up in the world, that relationships are all but forgotten. Your big house, car, swimming pool... These will not remember you once you're gone. They're not the ones who'll face years of sorrow for times not spent together.

If only we could change the materialistic mindset that has made this world, this life, so impersonal and meaningless. Maybe then we could meet our Creator without regret on both our part and on the part of those we have left behind.

Yes, that kitten has certainly got the better deal. It never has to see what the world truly is, and that is the best fortune that little thing could have.