Life and Death
Why are there trees? Why do trees have so many branches? Why do the branches have so many leafy arms? Why do the leaves fall and die in the cold seasons? Why do new leaves appear on the branches in the warm seasons?
Of course, if we have paid attention in school and are lucky enough to remember, some of these questions are easily answered by Science: chlorophyll, sunlight, energy, photosynthesis…providing oxygen in the air…
Why do trees live longer than people?
Why do people gravitate toward Science, toward Medicine, toward Teaching, toward Farming, toward Religion, toward non-Religion, toward Crime?
Why are some people more intelligent than others?
The ‘whys’ of our living never end.
Life is considered precious by most of us. Who can argue when the sunrise comes and the sunset gives way to darkness? Who can argue with a beach walk with someone in love? Who can argue when a child is born after a meticulous and precise nine-month process? Who can argue with all the beauty we can see and feel near the sweet edge of ecstasy?
BUT!
What if Death ultimately brings more fulfillment than the tactile and visual reality of what we call Life? Some of us fear Death, or, if not the event itself, the process by which we Die – a long prolonged death by cancer, by stroke, by a mind no longer functional in what most people would classify as normal. When the last breath is drawn and the body’s flesh lies in a soft plastic state, and an official master acknowledger of Death says it is so, when the family and friends stand mute and transfixed in that moment, unbelieving that the loved one is truly gone, what if the now missing energy of the deceased has really relocated to a unimaginable realm of beauty and peace, invisible to those of us remaining, but viewing in its new brilliance the mourning and now possessing a truth that bonds it with eternity?
For some, Faith in a Deity is firm and substantial. For some, Faith in a Deity is fragile and not as steadfast as they might wish. For some, Faith in a Deity is a meaningless pursuit of the mind…their lack of belief based on an experiential compendium of research and travels. Superfluously, except for some clairvoyant awakening and/or revelation, Faith is not something that one can normally apply the tools of tactility…though there are those throughout history who proclaim to have been touched, who proclaim they have felt, heard, and seen their religious experiences.
For me, an agnostic can honestly question with humility a belief system based on religion. I have some atheist friends who have humility in their non-belief. I have seen some atheists who display arrogance in their non-belief and patronizingly see those who believe as intellectually challenged. Of course, each of us are free to believe as we are so inclined. The atheist’s argument gets weaker with each passing day. Science itself has agreed that the ‘big bang’ cannot answer all the questions relative to ‘first cause’, evolution, hate, love, hell, and heaven.
Why not Faith? Why not belief in a higher authority beyond our orb? We believe and die, we experience the wonderful options of the hereafter. We do not believe and die, perhaps the options are not so great, or, not at all. So, it can be said that I can live with my faith, die, and there are no eternal rewards, just, well, black nothingness. In such a case, though I believe it impossible, my Faith is for naught. Thus, my tenuous beliefs in a Higher Authority are based on some amazing everyday miracles like birth precision, love, miracles, moon, ocean, sea, science, sun, sunrise, sunset, and throw in some historical documents like the Old and New Testaments, scrolls, and the overwhelming numbers of believers throughout the world.
Bad and good coexist side by side for a purpose. Do I know the purpose? No. A son, a daughter dies in illness or in a horrible way, leaving the parents bereft and paralyzed with grief. An earthquake, a flood, a tornado, a tsunami, takes tens of thousands of lives, and our hearts and souls take tumbles. People love, marry, divorce, re-marry…love ebbing and flowing. Do I know the purpose? No. But, I do believe that there is a reason for every action, deed, and thought of Man that goes beyond mortal understanding. My only badge for that belief is Faith. Perhaps there are some things the intellect computer cannot print out.
The question to be begged is, why would you not have Faith in a Higher Intelligence, the possibility of eternal peace? There is enough darkness in life to go with the light. Why not believe something much better is awaiting us at death? Who can answer with certainty the question, ‘What happens at death?’
Billy Ray Chitwood – January 6, 2015
Keep going!
There is more to follow!
Now, I hope to pleasantly engage you with a promo for one of my books. The title of the novel is, Murder in Pueblo Del Mar. This ‘Bailey Crane Mystery’ was inspired by an actual murder of an Arizona wife and mother while on holiday in Mexico along the Sea of Cortez. It was a particularly brutal homicide and my fictional account uses the forensics of the day and draws the characters as my mind perceived at the time. It is, like all my ‘Bailey Crane’ books, not the usual detective caper. ‘Bailey’ tells the story, fusing and musing the elements while filling out some details of another sad and personal story which also has some authenticity…not only for ‘Bailey’ but for the author himself.
Please give it a read, and, if convenient, give it an amazon review. Thank you.
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Proudly presenting my BLOG AWARDS below:
The Final Curtain 
Very interesting perspective Billy Ray. I hope the year is treating you well.
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With good people like you in it, how can it not? 🙂
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I believe that the body contains an electrical like force which doesn’t die when we pass on. It moves on . Maybe it still has enough of the life force to recognise those it was close too that passed before. So maybe there is a life after death in some way. I’ve kept this simplistic .
I don’t however believe in your higher power Billy Ray or in a deity other than those I imagine for my blog. I don’t envy others their beliefs but I don’t begrudge them either. I’ve made decisions about the way I choose to live my life and think it harms no-one and helps some. I have tolerance which I think is the key to happiness.
Hugs
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Well said, David. Your thoughts are much respected. All my very best to you in 2015.
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If it weren’t for my Faith, I’d have a difficult time getting out of bed each day and facing the world. I think you know me well enough now, Billy to know that I have to cling to Him each day.
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I do, dear sweet Jill… I, too, cling to Him in these passing days of my ‘sunset’… God Bless you!
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Hi Billy Ray, I told you I’d read your blog 😉
I do respect your thinking. When you ask: Who can answer with certainty the question, ‘What happens at death?’ We both know the answer: No one.
Given that, there cannot be a right or wrong answer to your other question: Why would you not have Faith in a Higher Intelligence, the possibility of eternal peace?
Who knows why some believe and others don’t. It’s probably as different as why some people see the glass half empty, and some see it half full.
I can relate to David Prosser’s comment. I live on this earth to do no harm, and to do good when I can. I don’t behave ‘morally’ because I think I will ascend to the heavens when I die. I live this way because I know it to be right for me. Ultimately, I do what I want in this life guided by my own moral compass, not by the fear of where my soul will end up in the afterlife.
Still friends? 😉
eden xo
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I agree with you, Billy Ray, that everyone has a right to believe (or not believe) as they feel is correct for them. I relate to what David and Eden have written – like David, I feel that the life force, essential to all living things, continues after the death of the ‘host’, be it a person, an animal or even a plant. There is so much about life (and death) that is veiled in mystery – perhaps, eventually, the human race will reach a point where it can see all the connections and finally understand.
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As I wrote to David, his words were well said – as were yours! EXCEPT for your last dumb question (‘dumb’ written with the most sweetness I can muster!): ‘Still Friends?’ Of course, WE ARE! Why would we not be? (Even when you have it all wrong!) 🙂
More seriously, it is not my attempt to convert anyone…I, too, have adjusted my thinking through the years to fit my life – my weaknesses, my urges, my propensities! I don’t like people who proselytize and sure hope my post did not come across that way. I’m an emotional guy, always have been, seeds planted in displaced youth, and there is seemingly always a war going on inside of me. You, David, anyone who finds their peace in life, do others no harm, I’m all for them…while I mean no harm to anyone I’m still searching at this ripe age and feel at times my soul connects with my thinking.
Billy Ray xox
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Haha! Billy Ray … I know we’re still friends, I was just playing with you 😉
Ultimately, I do hope you connect to what you find works best for you — I really do.
Big hugs, sweetheart,
xox
eden
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Hi, Diane, thanks for your good comments. Hopefully, that point will be reached when we all can see ‘the connections and finally understand’.
Hope your 2015 is all you want it to be.
Billy Ray
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Suppose certain philosophers are correct: after physical death we will experience what we believe? In physical life we experience what we believe (to a large extent), so why couldn’t this dynamic continue after death? That would give some of us heaven, some of us nothingness, and the rest of us continued uncertainty.
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You’re good, Doc Tim… When there is no clear blueprint, so much of what we believe and think has reason. Hope 2015 is a banner year for you, Renni, and Gentry.
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