A DEAD BODY

A Dead Body

Eerie.

Two peasants watch over a dead body.

One peasant is young. The other peasant is old.

The young one is fearful.

The old one is peaceful.

But the star of the show is a dead body.

The dead body is covered in white linen.

The imagery of a linen covered body lying in the forest where everything is still is very powerful.

Death.

As Hamlet says:

"The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns . . . "

The ultimate mystery.

Something we will all face and fear.

What is that world?

Nothing?

Paradise?

Here comes the man wearing a cassock.

A monk of some sort.

Looking for a brickyard.

When the monk sees the dead body he becomes upset.

He asks questions about who the body is.

We find out he was a stranger.

We don't know why he died.

According to tradition the soul will leave the body in three days.

Soul.

Our hope is that when we are done here there's something waiting for us.

Something better.

Or at least something.

Something is better than nothing.

The dead body captivates us.

The body or the soul is now residing in another dimension and we are aware of how little we know about that other dimension.

It can frighten us or if you are like our simpleton peasant you might just take it in stride -- accept it as our fate and not lose sleep.