Member Robert Cathcart died earlier this week. Bob made many valued contributions to the Ethical Humanist Society including serving on various committees and on the Board. He enjoyed presenting opening/closing words at our meetings – which he did frequently. Bob often included some of his poetry in the words that he shared. This was a great way to get to know him better. Bob was a kind and generous member of our Ethical Humanist Society.
Bob’s memorial service will be this Sunday at Extraordinary Ventures in Chapel Hill (our usual meeting location) at 3:00 PM. Hope to see some of you there.
Bob thought a lot about life’s meaning and death’s meaninglessness. He published a collection of poems called Evolutionary Thinking About Death. Here are two of Bob’s poems:
Death One
Death is the end of life,
Consciousness is gone,
Being come to an end,
Never see another dawn.
The truth for me:
I will never see
Another day, another night,
Another human soul.
End will come softly,
Bringing everlasting peace.
Nothingness will triumph,
Finality with grace.
Travelers
We’re all travelers in this world
From Green pastures to still waters
Birth til Death
We travel between the Eternities!
Dear Bob, I will truly miss you.
Chris Kaman says
Getting to know Bob was a real treat for me, and for the Ethical Humanist Society. His friendly nature, humor, insight, and caring enriched us all. I loved to hear him recite his poems which he read with a flair! We will miss him, and remember him and wish his family peace in their grief.
Gretchen Niver says
Yes, bob had a real twinkle in his eye when he smiled. He lived just down the road from me, so we car-pooled to various EHST events often, and I got to know him quite well over the last several years. He was such a sweet and thoughtful person. I’m glad he was able to live to the fullest up til the very last moment.
Jeff B. says
Bob was indeed a thoughtful person. These poems show that Bob’s evolutionary thinking about death was clear-eyed, shorn of comforting afterlife contingencies — and thus courageous.
I found Bob to be an amicable person who always greeted you with a genuine smile on his face. And that parallels the celebratory side of some of the poems he read to us, for example his rhythmic couplet on the 4th of July.
Chris Brockman says
I didn’t know Robert, but this is clear-eyed assessment of death. I prefer a more romantic though I think no less real outlook. Rather than nothingness, your own words show that we live on in the memories and legacy we leave behind. Furthermore, we continue to be a part of the Earth and part of the Universe. From dust to dust may have be the truest phrase ever uttered by religion. But it’s dust in the wind.