Yesterday, I saw a cap while on a plane coming back from Orlando. The cap had embroidered on the back, "It's a pirate's life for me." I’m guessing that the cap had something to do with Disney’s the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Anyway, the cap prompted me to think about what it means to live like a pirate.
Pirates spent most of their lives stealing loot, drinking rum, harassing others, and living by their own codes. They killed and hurt others when it served their purposes. They lived for themselves without caring how their actions impacted others. They made their own laws and only feared getting caught. The gallows were the only thing that would make a pirate squirm. Whether or not this is really an accurate description of how most pirates truly lived, this is typically what we think of when the legend of pirates comes to mind.
The pirate's life has been glorified by books, movies, plays and culture. Pirates claimed to live free to follow their own desires. Always on the run, each day brought a new adventure.
Is the idealized view of pirates a lie? Where these men truly free? Or did their lives cause them to be bond by invisible chains, which weighed down their souls?
The pirate's life may seem glorious at first, but it leads to death. The skull and crossbones resemble the spiritual death of those who live for nothing greater than their own desires. There is a lesson for people to learn today from the life of a pirate: Those who live for today will lose out on the eternal treasure of tomorrow.
