Transplanted Into The Spirit Land

Journal No. 20
English 48B
Dr. Scott Lankford
Author I Chose: Sui Sin Far

From "Mrs. Spring Fragrance"

I. "Mrs. Spring Fragrance loved babies. She had had two herself, but both had been transplanted into the spirit land before the completion of even one moon."

II. Sui Sin Far is explaining that Mrs. Spring Fragrance would be visiting with many acquaintances who had recently had babies. She is also using many descriptive words to explain that Mrs. S.F. had lost two children of her own before they were each a month old.

III. Though Mrs. Spring Fragrance has lost two newborn babies of her own, she seems either to have "gotten over it," or to have not dealt with it just yet. Part of me believes that she has gotten over it with the belief that they have moved on to a more restful, spiritual world. Is this what helps people to move on with their lives after mourning a death of a part of you? Since I am not a believer in organized religion - for myself - I can not wholly understand or answer this. I wish to believe that this is one of the reasons that people choose to put their beliefs (and complete trust) in organized religion. I would hope that they do it to cope with the unexplainable and the seemingly unjust parts of the circle of life. Maybe being a cynical non-believer is not all that it's cracked up to be. If I put my "faith" into another entity, maybe I would find that the unanswerable things were indeed answerable after all - but only by the one being above all others. Would I find this to be satisfactory to my ever-inquiring and increasingly-curious mind? I find it hard to see myself accepting that when I lose a loved-one, they are going to be met by a supreme mind who has had a reason to take them from me in the first place. I don't believe that I can build my entire world around that. However, for Mrs. Spring Fragrance, it seems to have worked just fine. She seems content in knowing that the souls that once shared space with her own are now in good hands - and in a happier place. Me, not so much.