had this thought in the mall today.

So something can't come from nothing, and there obviously is a limited amount of "stuff" in the universe. You need to keep that in mind if you are to understand where i am going with this.

when people die, we put them in a box or some other means of keeping their body away from the natural elements. and in most cases, we succeed in removing any access that maggots, or other natural decomposition that would take on the body. And our bodies are made up of the "stuff" of the universe, and everytime we bury someone, we are taking "stuff" out of the circle of life.

So what are the effects then? living things depend on "stuff" for life. When we take out "stuff" from the circle of life, we are pulling out that first dominoe. Now a fly will not lay eggs on that body. Now maggots will not feed on our flesh. now a bird will not eat that maggot. now an animal will not eat that bird. Now the soil will not have nutrients to keep in fertile. now a plant will not grow there. now a bee will not pull pollen from that plant. now that bee will not make a hive. and pulling out one body, which is made up of nature's "stuff" seems pretty important. And perhaps this can even explain the extinction of some animals. Who is to say that had we not practiced burial or cremation, that people's bodies would not have, in some indirect or direct way, fed a dodo bird. (continued)

and if we continue on this practice of "banking" the stuff of life, and we assume there really is no magic machine that can create new "stuff" and pump it back into the cycle, then it is fair to say, at some point in time, we will run out of "stuff." What then? Perhaps we will never reach that point, but rather at a point of equilibrium, where we are consistently eating ourselves, or one another.

Now you may say, "Josh, our bodies are sacred, and that is why we bury the dead, we deserve to respect those that die." And to that, i would remind you that respect and something being deemed as sacred are human ideas. And, unfortunately, nature does not conform to our ideas. And it is because of that, that we can not enforce our ideas. Nature ignores our request, and continues about it's business. And for that reason, we can not chose to oppose nature, because it is a losing battle.

Which leads me to MY conclusion, which is, when i die, i do not want to be burried. rather, i want to give back to what had given to me. I want to feed a racoon. I want to have a sunflower grow in my spot. I want to have bugs inhabit my carcus. Because, It is my desire to cause life, not prevent it.