The desert we call 'graveyard'

Graveyards, the man made deserts

Imagine the world if we continue building tombstones for every person that ever lived! The earth will soon turn into a barren desert of tombstones. Can we permanently mourn every wave that rises and falls or every passing sunset?

Just like the autumn leaves fall to the ground and enrich the earth for new life, so too our dead bodies must become compost for new life. Some cultures and native people understood the natural cycle of birth and death. The ashes of their dead are scattered in the rivers to be carried with it far and wide to nourish and mix with the dust of the earth. The dead leave without a trace and every bit of earth is treated as sacred ground.

..the very dust upon which you now stand ... is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.  - Chief Seattle 

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die. - Mary Elizabeth Frye

Blessed will be the earth when every graveyard is turned into a lush forest from the desert of tombstones it is now.