Life, Death & Creation

A mother took in the scene in front of her, her emotions roiling, knowing if it was hard on her, it was even worse for her children. Her heart broke for them all. They stood heads bowed, shoulders slumped, and she could still hear the occasional hiccupping sob. She fought hard to supress her own. Before the small gathering was a plot of disturbed soil with a cairn of rocks piled on top. This would be the final resting place of their family member, Buddy, the beloved dog. She knelt, reached out and pulled her children into her. Together they all cried their pain.

“Why did he have to die?” The eldest cried out.

“Are we all going to die?!” The youngest asked with a sniffle.

“Buddy was old and getting sick my loves. Yes, one day we will all die. But that is a part of life.” She answered honestly while using her sleeve to wipe their puffy, tear-soaked faces. She rubbed her face in her elbow to wipe away her own.

“But why?!”

“Can’t we just live forever?”

Her smile was heavy with melancholy but also pride in their inquisitiveness. “I don’t know the exact answer to those questions but, I can tell you a story my grandmother told me when I was young. It was told to her from her mother, and her mother told her. Would you like to hear it?” They nodded settling into her lap, when everyone was comfortable she started:

Long ago, you can not even begin to grasp how long ago – there was only Space. Space was eternal, it was everything and nothing at the same time. But at some point, when exactly is no matter – Space created Time and then the planets, suns, moons, and everything else inside itself. One of the planets created was called Earth.

Earth did not know when she began to be, or when she began to feel lonely. She knew of other planets, suns, and moons – but they did not share her cravings for company. She knew of Time – but he was too vast, too endless to offer any consistent attention. She knew of Space – but it was so eternal that it no longer responded to its creations if it ever had. Earth grew to want and need for attention; she needed something to want her and wanted something for her to care for. But alone, she could do nothing.

She called out to Time and waited so long, she didn’t think he would come but eventually, he was there with her. Earth begged Time to help her create something that would end her desolation. Time was skeptical. He was not as keen to offer himself so instead he offered Earth the Moon. Earth accepted.

The Earth and the Moon became friends, both enjoying one and others company. But after another terribly long span – Earth was still feeling unfulfilled. Both Earth and Moon called out to Time and when he arrived, Earth asked for his help again. But again, he was not ready to offer himself. So instead, he offered her the Sun. Earth again accepted.

The Sun, Moon and Earth all became friends, and their friendships attracted others, but distance still separated them, and Earth still felt she was missing something. Moon and Sun could see Earth was not happy still and so they all called out to Time once more. It had become clear to Time that Earth was in a great need even though he was still unsure he wanted to take on such responsibility.

Time thought about it and then he went to ask the others surrounding Earth if they too were lonely and what they thought of Earths request. The others were content to be left alone but some offered their assistance to the side of Earth; for while they were not lonely, they were a little bored. After counsel with the others, he told Earth he would help her.

The first parents were born of themselves. They became known as Mother Earth and Father Time and they created Life. Life was born both an ethereal and physical being, truly a mix of their Mother and Father. From Life sprung forth all the people, all the animals, the birds, the fish even the bugs! From Life also came all the plants, the trees, the rocks, the waters, and air.

Earth offered herself entirely to their creations. She would become their nourishment, their teacher, and their home. Time would offer his existence to their creations; he would become the reason for their consciousness and their intelligence. All the creations were born as equals. Each and every entity could communicate with each other and there was no death, everyone and everything; lived forever!

“Why did they get to live forever?” asked the one child.

“I don’t know baby, maybe because Mother Earth didn’t want them to become lonely like she had been.”

“You weren’t there?! But you were born a long time ago…” the youngest asked in earnest curiosity. She shot the child an exaggerated, angry look that brought giggles from both her children.

“I am not THAT old” She protested in mock anger “But I will be an old woman, and you both old as I am now if you keep interrupting” she jested before continuing.

The Sun and the Moon stayed close friends with Earth. They all spun around one and other like a kind of dance, and this pleased Life. Father Time too was pleased. Life taught all the creations, of the sacrifices that Mother Earth and Father Time had given so that they could come to be. This taught them to give of themselves freely to others. It was this way for a very, very long period until at some point Life noticed something was wrong, they came to the Great Mother with their concerns.

Neither Life nor Mother Earth knew exactly when it started but after a long, long while her children had began to fight. Mother Earths surface was becoming crowded, and Life could feel a sickness spreading, but neither were able to do anything about it. Devastated she called out once again to Father Time. In the process of waiting for him to arrive, it became worse. As the battel between the flora and fauna broke out and peaked, the sickness infecting them took away their ability to understand each other!

The humans could no longer understand the animals, the animals lost touch with the plants… None could understand they were all created equal, they lost respect for themselves, others and most heartbreakingly Mother Earth, Father Time and Life. When Father Time once again arrived, he too was saddened to see what had happened to their creations.

Now remember, everything at this point had lived forever, there was no understanding or concept of Death. But Father Time after failing to come up with a cure or solution, had suggested to Mother Earth that he should take back his gifts and that Life should cease. Mother Earth did not like that, she did not want to end Life or the creations she had nursed for so long.

The celestial parents warred against one and other – going against their own teachings to Life. Father Time was fond of Life and all the creations, but he was afraid for Earth. Life called out to both Mother Earth and Father Time; Life didn’t know why the sickness had spread but they felt responsible didn’t want to cause any more fighting. They offered the ending of themselves so that Earth and Time could try again, in hopes that the next time maybe the sickness could be kept at bay. They all, after much deliberation, decided this must be the only choice.

But the commotion in this area of Space had woken the cosmic deity and Space was deeply moved by the comparatively young Life offering themselves to something so unknown. Space chose to grant Life with a gift. As Time took back his gifts and Mother Earth let go of their creations they all cried great tears of remorse, guilt and sadness. This flooded the Great Mothers surface, and the beloved creations began to disappear. Once the waters cleared, to the complete surprise of them all, Life was reborn! But Life was not alone, Life was reborn with Death.

No longer would the creations, once again beginning to blanket Mother Earths surfaces, live forever. Space explained to Mother Earth and Father Time, even the Sun and Moon – nothing could exist forever, not even themselves. Everything had a beginning and an end and when Time and Earth created Life, they upset the balance. Space had learned this lesson eternities ago and comparatively to Space, everything was young; Life was younger still. This was lesson that had to be learned. Death is a part of Life. Because without Death there can be no Life.

This lesson was passed down and now, we the people, have been given this knowledge and this understanding of how important balance is. When anything is born, Life welcomes us and when we die, Death is our greeter. Life and Death are one and the same.

“This myth teaches us that we must respect the balance of creation. Buddy lived a good life with us, and Death bring us the opportunity to better appreciate that."

“That is some pretty heavy stuff for them isn’t it?” a man asked seriously but hint of light teasing in his expression, while walking up to them.

“Dad!” the kids cried getting up and running to him then tackling him with hugs.

“I think it was fitting” she said with an edge of playfulness, also getting up and embracing him. The family all turned to look at the grave, the children looked on with a new perspective while the parents looked at them with knowing expressions. After another few moments, the man stepped forward.

“Here you go Buddy, I am going to miss you” the man said laying the red circle of woven fabric with a small metal tag, atop the cairn. He patted it before turning to leave.

As they walked back to the house, the Earth continued to spin around the Sun, setting heavily on the horizon as the Moon began its ascent to the sky full of Stars and Space. Time continued to move on.