The Argument For Eternity

I have just finished reading a book entitled SOUL. It told the story of humanity from the beginning of intelligence about 100,000 years ago, indicating the first archaeological signs of a system of belief, through to the latest signs of artificial intelligence. The story appeared more about the history of war and the slaughter of people, which was prolific. The best that one could assess from this tome (750 pages) was that people regarded anyone who was different as an enemy, and therefore an enemy of God. This way of viewing the world was a dualistic one when the different was seen as not only an enemy, but an enemy of God.

The story highlighted the long history of slaughter, which was their hundreds and thousands, men women, and children. The question I asked particularly of the children and women who innocently went about their daily work and played harmlessly around the house, cutting their lives pointlessly short. In our day, we ponder the current-day slaughter of Palestinian children in the Middle Eastern war. What was the point of their lives, born into this beautiful world only to be eliminated in such a short time. It is a simple solution but I cannot comprehend that this is all that there is. In my simple mind, I conclude that there must be more with purpose or meaning.

It is not only children, but women and men. We all live for various lengths of time. Some liturgies ask us to prepare us for unprepared death. That is the story of life, some lives are cut short, others with untold hardship. It seems so pointless, that this is the end without the possibility of redemption. When one has lived as long as I do, 76 years at this stage, I look back at a lifetime of fortunate circumstances, but it seems to have gone so quickly. I cannot believe that that was all there was. There is no way of determining the future but I live with the conviction that this is just the beginning and when we pass away we will move to a future with greater meaning and purpose.

I have also been reading a book called The Romance of Reality that describes the way this world is knit together, as marvelous as that story is, it purposefully overlooks a future life, in fact, refuting it. This is the choice that puzzles us, but I have made my decision and it is that we live for eternity.