Some sunny day, several weeks ago a man died in Chicago. His name was Malachi Ritscher. I had never heard of him. Mr. Ritscher died of self-immolation.
I do not really understand this practice, but it has a history. It seems to be an ultimate protest against institutionalized violence, usually carried out by people who have made a deep commitment to non-violence. Apparently Mr. Ritscher hoped that by his actions some might "wake from their walking dream state". Above all it seems that his death was a rejection of something. He wrote, "I choose not to live in your world."
Vera! Vera!
What has become of you?
What saddens me most about the manner in which this man died is that I suspect it was in vain. I imagine that there is some sort of division amongst people. I suspect that one portion of humanity instantly apprehends what such a death means, and the motives and the frustrations that lead up to it. At the same time, the other portion of humans can not, or will not, examine what it was that Malachi Ritscher was protesting against. They simply will not consider it. Perhaps they are unable to consider it, and if so, then they can not wake from their dream state. This is what is so sad about it. If he was trying to send a message, then the people who understood the message already knew it and the people he was trying to reach don't get it and probably never will.
If he was trying to wake the dead, then I suspect he failed. It is so very difficult to let the dead attend to the dead. There is always the temptation to come back, shake them and shout are you alive yet? I imagine Mr. Ritscher became very frustrated at the ineffectiveness of pestering the dead. Perhaps he hoped one mighty signal fire might rouse someone from their cold-hearted sleep. Maybe the blind can not see the signal fire and this is why we are told to let the dead bury the dead.
Does anybody else here
Feel the way I do?
In any case, after reading his last testament, I am left with the impression that Malachi Ritscher was a man of special conscience. Perhaps such people suffer a great deal. I wish that he could have found a different way to say "I choose not to live in your world." Perhaps he was too rational. There was an indication in his writing that he was in danger of becoming "of this world". I wish he could have found a way to stay in this world, but be not of it. I want to believe that there are different ways, that humanity is not on an expressway to oblivion. I want to believe that there are at least some off ramps that people can take, an exit here and there.
Ones that don't involve a can of accelerant and a match.
1 comment:
This is one of the thoughtful writings about Malachi's death that i have seen so far. I agree with your question: How to be in this world without becoming OF it? Many just call all who have done this act, and frankly MOST actions taken in protest against the system, just signs of insanity. It is better to be insane, then, in a world where being "sane" means accepting legalized torture, hurricanes used for ethnic cleansings, and women's bodies being legislated into incubators. Let the consciously insane unite, comfort each other, and rise up to defeat this Regime that Dreams of Fascism.
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