A Meaningful Life?

After reading Slaughterhouse 5, we received an assignment reminiscent of that which Billy Pilgrim's mom tries: we are to attempt to find a meaning of life from items found in a souvenir store.

After looking all over the Stockyards, here are the items I found.



Here is the skull of a warthog (or pig of some type anyway). As his vast, vacant eye sockets stare off into nothing, I cannot help but wonder: does he see the future? Perhaps his past? How did his violent ending occur? In the end, all we can see from this sad remnant of a once proud pig is how short life is and how we should make the best of it... by watching the Lion King and laughing at our good warthog friend Pumba (I wonder if they were related?)



Here is a carving of a Native American man, dressed in a feather headdress, yet looking immaculately well for his depiction. As I looked upon him, I couldn't help but think this man was either Spanish or held a Spanish influence in his life (I'm thinking conquistadors or Spanish monks here). Was this man captured by the conquistadors, forced to shave, then presented before the king and queen? Or perhaps he was a conquistador runaway, fleeing from a life of being an oppressor and joining a simpler tribal life closer to nature. Whatever the case, this carving reminded me of the oppression and fallibility of humans, how we can do cruel things and live with them, or how we can easily make excuses for things that are inexcusable.
















Finally, we have the small box. It looks like a jewelry box from the outside: what treasures does it hold on the inside? Alas, we may never know for the faithful Western guardian stands watch over its contents, practically challenging, daring even, someone to come forth and test his skill. Whatever the contents of the box, they were obviously worth guarding. So too should we guard ourselves and our hearts from what others would like to do with them.