Not your business

  " Everything is ephemeral, both that which remembers and that which is remembered." (Marcus Aurelius)

I agree with Marcus and his observation on the state of life. Everything is only for a short time. That explains our quest for an afterlife quite succinctly. Mans' desire to continue, to last forever is a strong one. On a personal level I find myself more concerned with not being forgotten than obtaining any immortality. I do believe in a creator, a power higher than ourselves that created this universe and everything in it. It is an intelligent design and didn't happen by accident. I will never accept that explanation, it was just a big bang and poof everything happened. It is a subject I have written about several times offering my thoughts and explanations. In essence I simply believe that energy can not be created or destroyed just transformed from one state to another. We are energy.

There is much I can offer no explanation for. We are born with free will. I'm not convinced there is a plan for our lives. I'm also not convinced I can influence this higher power in any way; to my advantage or against it for that matter. Is there a reward for acting appropriately? Yes there is, but I'm not convinced that reward is given in death, although it is a possibility. It has been said we are never gone if our name is remembered and spoken often. I believe that is true as my parents, my siblings and others I have known and loved are now deceased but very much alive in my thoughts. Still, that is where the ephemeral part enters the picture. Once those that knew us personally are gone, so may we be gone. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, think of those famous names throughout history that are spoken still. We feel like we know them in a fashion.

In the last decade or so there has been an effort to have us remember those historical figures differently. We are changing the story. Columbus is being vilified, disparaging remarks made about our founding fathers and politicians. We call it exposing their humanity, their faults and frailties. It's the quest for the truth. There accomplishments that were the stuff of legends now being relegated to the ephemeral. Their time is coming to an end. Today we are erecting statues and memorials to criminals in the interest of social justice. At least that is the narrative being pushed. It will soon fade away. That has always happened across the centuries. We are here but for a short time. Is there somewhere else?

It's my thought we are here to expend our energy in whatever way we chose. We are as a single electron in a atom. We are just circling that nucleus. I make no pretense to having any understanding of any of that. Theoretical physics isn't my forte. I did read where the atomic model has gone through many changes evolving as necessary to fit experimental data. I read that as, changing the answer to fit the question.

But the important thing to me is that we are just a bit of energy. Man can not create or destroy that therefore there has to be something that can, it exists, and that is proof enough. We just don't understand how it works. So for me, I just want to be remembered. I want the things I value and cherish to continue to be valued and cherished. It has to have some value. I don't want to believe that the expenditure of my energy accomplished nothing. It can't be that way. It's rather frustrating at times though, not knowing. The need to know is strong in most of us. It is very difficult to accept the fact that there are things that are simply, not your business. Seems like it should be.