GOD & TEXAS: Death Song

“Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.” These words were penned by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, in his poem Live Your Life.

Sometimes referred to as swan songs, this type of final ballad was also included in manuscripts of English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. And Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle used the idiom swan song in his poem Resartus, which was based on Schwanengesang, the last musical composition by German composer Franz Schubert.

In the New World, the death song among Native Americans varied. This somber chant was usually sung by a warrior who was fatally wounded and facing death. The specific content of the warrior’s death song is a mystery but probably included reviewing family heritage and acts of heroism.

An interesting recounting of a warrior’s death song was presented in the book “Rangers and Pioneers of Texas,” by A. J. Sowell. Following a bloody battle between Texas Rangers and a band of Comanches, the renegade chief stood eerily erect, though mortally wounded. Riddled with bullets, this proud warrior crossed his arms majestically across his chest, refusing to fall. Staring into the distance, he began to sing his death song.

Few understood his words, but Chief Casteel, a Tonkawa interpreter with the Rangers, translated the song as best he could. Casteel said that the dying chief recounted the brave deeds he had done, the scalps he had taken, and the good warrior father he had been. He faced the afterlife on his own terms and gave no thought to his enemies.

Though we all have an appointment with death (Hebrews 9:27), it is not a popular subject. It was German theologian Martin Luther who said, “Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.”

What you believe about what happens after death impacts your present life. If you believe that there is no life after death, you will live with fear. But if you believe that Christ is waiting for you after death, faith for a better life replaces fear.

Consider Psalm 116:3-6 NLT, “Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: ‘Please, LORD, save me!’ How kind the LORD is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours!”

Facing impending death, the Apostle Paul states in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 NLT, “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing.”

May this be your final song, also.

----------------------------------------

For more inspirational reading please visit www.davidroseministries.com

To purchase the historical non-fiction book GOD and TEXAS by David G. Rose please visit www.amazon.com