I’m just typing to get the feel of free form writing again. What topic can I talk about that will move people. Bob always talked about moving people. To inspire, a game changer, or should I just ramble on and share my thoughts and see if it resonates.
I learned in paralegal school to be succinct and direct, not too wordy and get to the point. So it’s difficult for me to try and stretch things out. I’ll just talk in plain english how I would normally speak instead of trying to find the perfect words and tinkering over and over again on one stupid sentence.
There are several topics that have come to mind over the years. One in particular has stayed with me the longest: The abstract notion of the soul, everlasting life, faith, and what it might it all really be. Then there’s heaven, limbo, purgatory, and hell. It’s a heavy subject and I’m going to say what I believe it all means from a pragmatic point of view. To give a little context, I was brought up Catholic, went through 12 years of catechism, was an alter boy. But the rituals and abstractness of it all just didn’t stick. The holy spirit and tongues of fire, floating up to heaven. The lessons of Jesus certainly did; be kind to others and stand by your principals. So this is just me thinking out loud and sorting it out…
Let’s start with the soul. Every person has a life energy. You see it in others, their personality. You feel it in yourself. I believe other mammals have it too. As we go through life we interact with each other and the natural world. How one’s life energy affects others and the natural world is one’s soul; how you impact others either positively or negatively, directly or indirectly. You can think about it like how others will remember you after you die. But it’s more than that. You affect many more that you may not even know or realize you touched. It could be someone who saw you do something from afar, or someone telling others about you. It could be how you impact animals and nature. I don’t think your soul is what floats away after you die. It’s your impact on the world and it’s ripple effect.
Everlasting life. Jesus gave mankind a blueprint to achieve everlasting life. It’s not something that one person achieves. It’s what all of mankind can achieve once everybody collectively lives the life of love for each other and the natural world. Anything short of that will ultimately lead to our demise. Extinction at some point. An impossibly high bar but it is what it is. It takes a lot of faith to believe that man will survive for all eternity if you as a person do your part. That’s what faith is… to believe that what you do, or what others do, will have the impact and results you want. Fortunately, it is recognized that people aren’t perfect and need a chance to change course at any point. Repentance and forgiveness allow for that if it truly heals those affected.
To me those are the biggies… the soul, everlasting life and what it takes to get there, and faith to do one’s part. Less important to me anyway is the meaning of heaven, limbo, hell, and purgatory. I think they help tie everything together though. Heaven is a person’s individual achievement instead of all of mankind. It means that the person has done his/her part. It doesn’t mean the person will have everlasting or eternal life. If everyone achieves heaven then mankind will have everlasting life, else we are bound for extinction. Limbo means that one hasn’t quite achieved heaven after death but the negativity that you left behind can be healed over time. Time can allow others to forget or forgive. The best example I can give is if someone commits suicide. The family members remember him/her very fondly, but the suicide itself leaves a scar, and so the soul is in limbo. As time passes memories fade or the act is forgiven. Hell and purgatory are similar. Too much negative impact on the world. Where the line is drawn between all of these I can only guess. It’s merely a tool for people to measure themselves with.
Plenty of gaps I know, but if you just apply this interpretation to different scenarios, you’ll see how it makes sense. How we treat each other and how we treat the natural world will decide our destiny as a species.
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