the big cake in the sky

When a man is living, he is soft and supple.
When he is dead, he becomes hard and rigid.
When a plant is living, it is soft and tender.
When it is dead, it becomes withered and dry.

Hence, the hard and rigid belongs to the company of the dead:
The soft and supple belongs to the company of the living.

Therefore, a mighty army tends to fall by its own weight,
Just as dry wood is ready for the axe.

The mighty and great will be laid low;
The humble and weak will be exalted.
-- John C. H. Wu, Chapter76, Tao Te Ching

Jesus, Lao Tzu, and I were walking through a graveyard.

Birds were singing in the trees.

"What happens when you die?" I asked,
intensely aware of the human remains beneath the ground.

"Separation," said Jesus and Lao Tzu simultaneously.

They looked at each other and grinned.

"I know that," I said. "That is why we ones left behind grieve."

"That is not what we mean," said Jesus.

"What happens to an egg you crack to bake a cake?" asked Lao Tzu.

 "The yolk and white go in the cake and the shell goes in the compost pile."

"Same with death," said Lao Tzu.

We stopped walking. I was confused.

"The soft and supple spirit separates from the hard and rigid body," said Jesus.

"The body goes in the compost pile," said Lao Tzu.

"Where does the spirit go?" I asked.

"To quote Lao Tzu, it joins 'the company of the living.'" said Jesus.

"Which is where it has always been," said Lao Tzu.

"Though the egg often thinks it is just a shell game." I said.

Lao Tzu groaned and Jesus laughed.

Lao Tzu pushed me gently.

"Be careful, boy, or we will send you to that Big Cake in the Sky."

"Sounds mighty fine to me," I said.

We strolled on.