0||0|650|0|yes
0|0|0|||1||Thoughts on life%2C death%2C and faith %28not a downer%21%29|Logan_D_alt||00:46:00|04/24/2003|[updated:LAST EDITED ON 04-25-03 AT 11:29 PM (EDT)]I%27ve been doing some heavy thinking the last few days. And I had to write a few things down. Here are a few somewhat random thoughts on life%2C death%2C and trying to come to grips rationally with faith and hope --%0D%0A%0D%0AWhen we mourn someone who dies%2C we don%27t necessarily mourn for those who have passed beyond. A memorial or a funeral isn%27t for them. It%27s for us. We mourn what _we_ have lost. We mourn because we do not know for certain if we will ever see that person again. It%27s certainly true that in this life%2C we will not again see them. And we are sorrowful. The pain of loss is enormous. In part because we do not know what lies beyond.%0D%0A%0D%0ABut there%27s something important to realize about certainty and faith. I%27ve been thinking about this. And I%27ve come to realize that we human beings cannot be _allowed_%2C as a whole%2C to know with certainty that there is a life beyond. That knowledge would destroy the human race as surely as a giant meteor strike. %0D%0A%0D%0AIf we%2C as a race%2C _knew_ with empirical and verifiable certainty that there is a life beyond the one we know%2C can you imagine what horrors that would inspire%3F So many forms of fanaticism are based on the certainty in the minds of the fanatics that this world is not as good as the world waiting for them. That this life doesn%27t _mean_ as much as the next one. Certain extreme forms of Islam come to mind. Mad suicide bombers who don%27t value their own lives because they are made certain of a life beyond that is better than the one they live now.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo many of the best moral decisions and philosophies are made because we value life. And part of the reason we value life is precisely because it is limited. And because we cannot know what lies beyond with certainty. I have met rational athiests who insist that they value life more than people who believe in an afterlife. Because they believe that this life is _it_. And I have to admit%2C they have a point%2C after a fashion.%0D%0A%0D%0ABut does that mean having faith in an afterlife - in a soul that does not die -is irrational%3F That there is no basis for believing in an afterlife at all%3F Hardly. There appears to be leakage of the truth at odd moments. People who have had near death and out of body experiences and come back to tell about them come to mind. And there are other things that cannot be explained away rationally. Individuals can be allowed insights from time to time%2C but on the whole%2C the uncertainty remains for us all%2C because it must. But we are allowed hope. When all else is gone%2C hope remains. Faith remains. %0D%0A%0D%0ASo I have my doubts%2C because I am a rational person. And I must question everything. But I also have hope%2C because understanding that there is a very good _reason_ for our inability to know what lies beyond the veil in a roundabout way%2C for me%2C confirms my hope and faith. %0D%0A%0D%0A%22There are more things in Heaven and Earth%2C Horatio%2C%0D%0Athen are dreamt of in your philosophy.%22%0D%0A%0D%0AThe universe is beyond the ability of science to fully quantify. It will _always_ be so. And that is as it should be. If there was no mystery in life%2C how bleak that would be%21 %0D%0A%0D%0AI believe many things. I am nominally a Christian. But I wouldn%27t be a very _good_ Christian by most standards%2C because I don%27t hew to any particular sect of the faith. And because I also believe in many other bits of other faiths. I suppose I%27m almost a pagan that way. God goes by many names%2C different faces%2C but all describing the same thing. I%27ve come to believe that every belief and creed has a piece of the truth. But none have the whole of it.%0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m also something of a rationalist. I prefer to approach my faiths and beliefs as much as I can from a logical perspective. This may seem contradictory. But it%27s my way. %0D%0A%0D%0AI have come almost full circle in my life from being a Church going Southern Babtist who believed and attended church because it was expected of me -- To rejecting ALL religions outright in rebellion and contempt -- to realizing that all could not be explained by science and rationality -- to understanding that there was a component of my life that was missing%2C and realizing that it was the spiritual part that I had thrown away -- to trying to come to grips with faith and belief by studying many religions and beliefs as much as possible%2C and trying to rationalize a personal system of belief in God%28s%29 and the afterlife that makes sense to me. %0D%0A%0D%0AAnd I%27m going about it the hard way. Because there is no church or religion I%27ve found or heard of that would possibly accept the disparate beliefs and ideas that I have and feel. I almost think that when I slog to the metaphorical mountaintop%2C I%27ll find a whole bunch of mystics and holy men up there and at least one of them will turn around and say to me%2C %22Boy%2C that North face is a _bitch_%2C ain%27t it%3F%22%0D%0A%0D%0ANo%2C the universe ain%27t fair. And that%27s part of the mystery. It%27s built into the very fabric of spacetime%2C down even below the quantum level. Randomness is built in. It%27s what allows freewill. It%27s also what allows for tragedy.%0D%0A%0D%0AOr%2C as a character from Babylon 5 once put it %28somewhat pithily%29 -- %0D%0A%0D%0A%22You know%2C I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought%2C wouldn%27t it be much worse if life _were_ fair%2C and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them%3F So%2C now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.%22 %0D%0A%0D%0ABut in short - I believe that there is a God. And I believe in an afterlife%2C though I can%27t know for certain what it%27s like. I%27m not even sure I should be presumptious enough to speculate. But I know in my heart%2C if not my head%2C that a person%27s soul does not quit when the body does. Beyond that I cannot say. But hope remains. Doubt though I will%2C hope remains. %0D%0A%0D%0AI believe that I will meet those that have gone before%2C and that I%27ll have many choices presented to me - I could rest in Heaven or party in Valhalla%2C or I could go to be reborn again in Midgard. Or I could do all of those things and more. %0D%0A%0D%0AIn the meantime%2C I must live my life and do my best to live it to the hilt and with as much kindness to others as I can muster. Our friends and loved ones who have gone before wouldn%27t want us to obsess on their fates or ours. Remember them and feel blessed to have known them in whatever way we could while they were here%2C but with as little sadness as possible. They%27ll wait for us by and by. It may take a while%2C but we _will_ see them again.%0D%0A%0D%0ADeath happens%2C but life goes on. That%27s the most important thing.%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A-Logan%0D%0A%5Btable border%3D%220%22 cellspacing%3D%220%22 cellpadding%3D%220%22%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd colspan%3D%222%22%5D%5Bhr size%3D%222%22 noshade%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.a-kon.com%2FiB_html%2Fnon-cgi%2Favatars%2Fuploaded_squall1.jpg%5B%2Ftd%5D%5Btd%5D%5BFONT SIZE%3D%222%22 COLOR%3D%22%23000000%22%5D%5Bi%5DI would enter your sleep if I could%2C and guard you there%2C and slay the thing that hounds you as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. But I cannot come in unless you dream of me. --Prince Lir%2C The Last Unicorn%5B%2Fi%5D%5B%2Ffont%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd colspan%3D%222%22%5D%5Bhr size%3D%222%22 noshade%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5B%2Ftable%5D%5B%2Fp%5D