Ever wondered what life and death was? Here is
an extract from a book that tries to explain it,
"Suppose
you couldn't remember anything from one day to the next. You'd get
up in the morning with no recollection of yesterday. You'd feel
full of energy. Dew would be on the grass. The sun would be shining
bright and warm. Birds would be singing, and you would feel that
nature was a wonderful thing. Then the sun would rise higher in
the heavens. You'd begin to get a little fatigued.
"Along about noon you'd
be tired, then clouds would blot out the sun. There'd be a thunder
squall, and the heavens which had been so friendly would be menacing.
You'd see water falling out of the sky, and wonder if you were going
to be totally submerged. You'd see spurts of lightning tearing the
sky apart. You'd hear roaring thunder. You'd be in terror.
"Then the clouds would
drift away. The sun would come out again. The air would be pure
and sparkling. You'd regain your confidence. Then you'd notice that
the shadows were lengthening. The sun would disappear. There'd be
darkness. You'd huddle about a light waiting to see what would happen
next. You'd feel weary, more than a little frightened. You'd think
that nature, which had stared out to be so beautiful, had betrayed
you. You'd fight hard to keep your faith, and it would be a losing
battle.
"The loved ones who were
sitting around the fire with you would show signs of fatigue. Their
heads would fall forward. They'd lie down. Their eyes would close,
and suddenly their personalities would be gone. Then you yourself
would want to lie down, and yet you'd feel that as soon as you did,
this awful unconsciousness would come over you…………."
He broke off,smiled and said,
" My words don't carry conviction because you do know all of
these symptoms as a part of life. You know that this unconsciousness
is only sleep. You know that in the course of a few short hours,
you'll wake up completely refreshed, that the dawn will be breaking,
that the sun will be coming up, the birds singing. You know that
the awful visitation of noise and flashes was only a thundershower,
part of nature's scheme to bring water from the ocean up into the
mountains, to feed the streams and the rivers, to make the crops
green. You'd realize that sleep is natures way of strengthening
you for a new day, that its profitless to try to prolong the waking
activities too far into the night, that nature is co-operating with
you. But suppose you didn't understand these things? Suppose you
could see only from day to day/
