Even now I hesitate to write about it… death and dying. We all do it, totally unavoidable…yet it’s one of the most difficult things to contemplate. Birth and death are the two experiences we all have in common. How those things unfold and the ways in which we process them are a different story all together.
I’ve often envied those who are strong in their Faith, who believe in the heavens above, the reward after a hard lived life – of existing in peace with their creator and loved ones who have gone before them. I’m not saying I don’t believe there is any such thing. What has always been very clear to me, though, is that I just don’t know the answer to what absolutely is and what might not be. Science makes a heck of a lot of sense. I can’t ignore the proven truths of evolution. Having been raised a Catholic, I often found some of what many religions preach as fear based, hypocritical and outdated. I also have a hard time justifying the reasons for so much of the horrible, senseless suffering we all see all over the world if there is a Creator who was so powerful he could have avoided that altogether.
So it’s honest to admit I turned away from organized religion long ago. I’ve given my children the education to make that decision for themselves, as I feel it’s their right to do so. I live my life on good terms with kindness and good will. If I meet a maker someday for judgement, my hope is that I will have lived up to the creators expectations, although I’m no Saint.
The science of birth and death make sense to me…. but there are those miracles that make you wonder, not to mention the essence of our being… the Soul, which I have no doubt we all possess. (ok, some people make me wonder.) If not for the Soul, we would all just be a unit of working parts, a robot. What makes a -Soul-… surely not those working parts. It’s something greater than our current understanding and right there is the wrinkle that scientific explanations cannot iron out.
I recently came across the words of a very wise man, Michael ldvorsky Pupin- a Serbian-American inventor, a great educator, professor
of Columbia University, an applied physicist, an important social figure in
America at his time. He was one of the
great shining stars in the history of American science.
of Columbia University, an applied physicist, an important social figure in
America at his time. He was one of the
great shining stars in the history of American science.
Mr. Pupin had this, and much more, to say on the subject in a New York Times interview…
“Science gives us plenty of ground for intelligent hope that our physical life is only a stage in the existence of the soul. The law of continuity and the general scientific view of the universe tend to strengthen our belief that the soul goes on existing and developing after death.”
“Science gives us plenty of ground for intelligent hope that our physical life is only a stage in the existence of the soul. The law of continuity and the general scientific view of the universe tend to strengthen our belief that the soul goes on existing and developing after death.”
Have you ever been asked who you would choose to meet, past or present person in history, if you could choose anyone at all? Top of my list would be Mr. Pupin.
