Impulse Engines

Madame M,

Of course it's possible that someone so brilliant who clearly appreciates and maybe even craves complexity could miss a truth based solely on what he sees as its lack of sophistication. Sometimes something is both simple and true. But not nearly as often as demagogues would have us believe.

To love and be loved, to learn, to understand, to create: universal desires across civilizations, as Toynbee so ably related to us. Rationality need not always be cold, however; if, as Jefferson said, it is a gift from the Creator, then perhaps there is an infusion of the warm divine in it.

Although I have read extensive reviews on the writings of those gentlemen (Pink and Shirky), I have not read their full works. Feel free to launch commentary if you like! I am in the process of finishing multiple books nearly all at once (a [bad?] habit of mine—it appears for the longest time that I am accomplishing little, and then, presto, the tabulation goes up quickly), so I too will have books to comment on, in addition to other subjects of some import!

[Caution: The following “Professions of a Prof” are the musings of a mortal. Your mileage may vary. :)]
You have brought up the parent/child context and God. The condemnation dilemma—that is, how could an ALL-loving and utterly perfect God condemn anyone to never-ending punishment, especially if a human parent would never do that to their child, and most especially not to a young child, and we are far less than dim 2 year olds to an omniscient God—has always seemed in my thoughts to have ready possible answer: we condemn ourselves. IF that is the case (which I don’t KNOW it is or isn’t, lol), then perhaps the soul, liberated upon mortal world exit from its mortal limitations (especially awareness) and petty human selfishness and justification, becomes aware in every measure of every sin of commission and omission, and of every effect and every connection of every sin, and is overwhelmed with infinite shame and spiritwracked guilt and remorse. This feeling of seemingly indelible soulstain makes the soul feel irredeemably tarnished, utterly impure, and completely unworthy to be in the presence of, let alone WITH, a pure, sinless, God of complete love. And so it shuts itself away from God, seeking ways to purify itself, and it is this being away from God, utterly opposite of what at its deepest level the soul wants (to be with God more than anything or anyone in the multiverse), is intensely painful—more so than even one who is cut off from all loved ones, from family, from friends, from everything valued, because of one’s actions. A soul perhaps may even feel so evil-ized that it seeks active torture, or even oblivion, and may even find ready beings willing to attempt (or give the appearance at least) to oblige. And that all this has perhaps been the free will agreement from the beginning, before any soul was mortal-born: that what the soul does in mortality it can consider binding to itself.

To a God who IS love, this would, one might presume, be saddening, but with free-will being a prime directive, said God would not interfere. But ah, ah, that God would do the ultimate to show love as the strongest force, to say to His creations about their sins: “We don’t care about ANY of that; we experienced mortality ourselves, died ourselves, FOR YOU, to show YOU, EACH of YOU, that you are loved despite anything you have done or could ever do. We took it all on ourselves, see? Atoned for everything if you will just let it be so! Please stop punishing yourselves. Please come home.”

Knowing that every sin on earth is counted by ourselves, God would then likely want us to, first, reduce sin to a minimum, and secondly and foremost, feel the remorse in this life and let Him wash its staining aspects away now, so that, in the next life, we can watch a review of the sin and all its effects without experiencing the spiritwrack—and the impurity and all it might entail in the long process of purification (perhaps even another mortal life) and being away from the one who loves us absolutely unconditionally and completely.

Eternal punishment? Where’s the sense (or the love) in that? Weren’t even the vilest, most earthly evil sinners given a pure soul by God, and that soul upon mortal release knows what it has done? It may punish ITSELF far more than anyone would wish or even think sufficient—and no one good but it wants to punish. It needs everyone’s love and forgiveness, especially the love and forgiveness from the souls whose mortal existences the stained soul did evil to. It also needs love from its soul companions who have known it through eternities. And it centrally receives the love from God, who wants the soul to let go and let Love wash it clean, but at least to know that, at any moment, it can come home and is eagerly awaited. Even a soul that could forgive itself for what it did while in an awareness-limited childlike state like mortality might still feel a need to purify itself of the stain it feels first, de-rationalize its behavior and examine its mortal life fully, and grow in heavenly attributes, before it was “ready for the next level.” And mighty readily welcome the prayers of those in earthly existence and in heavenly existence to perhaps speed the purification process. And would perhaps hope and maybe subtly work for a transition of the earthly world toward a more heavenly consciousness, for that could speed the purification process for itself and others.

If the above is the case, that is, if we ourselves do the condemning (and maybe Matheson is right that all hells and purgatories are private and maybe even all heavens are a bit privately formed too, at least culturally or religiously), THEN such an act of the Cross “showing ultimate love and absolute valuing” and freeing us from punishing ourselves if we will accept the sacrifice, does mean a great deal of something. THAT interpretation has always made more sense to me than the traditional dogmas of salvation, externally mandated perpetual punishment, God being angry, etc. And “learning to love” really then can be one of the prime purposes, or maybe THE main purpose, in this life.

Or maybe each soul is on a different journey, and is at a different level, with some ready to “go to the Light” immediately after Life Review and be done with the whole process, and others who go another path for now.

Whatever is the case, I think it’s asinine not to trust in God. I know that this is standing the “If I am wrong, I have lost nothing, if I am right, I have gained everything or at least averted eternal torment” argument on its head, but even in our highly limited mortal empathy and mortal love, if we attempt to see not just with God’s eyes, but as God sees, we can shed the human emotions of revenge or justice and focus on Love. And Love’s associated facets of tolerance, brotherhood, and forgiveness, so aptly demonstrated in the story of Jesus. In a world that could never forget its slights (and largely still can’t), Jesus was not about condemning, not even for the seemingly deserving. Such a God will make all things right in the end, and most of the foolish little things we little amoebas argue over and fret about here will be shown to mean next to nothing. Yes, I believe God desires that we spare ourselves as much of the agony of having our immortal essences (who KNOW right from wrong) see and experience with our own immortal eyes and feelings all we have done, an agony none of us mortals can truly imagine. For if we are not just basically good, but inherently GOOD spirits, pure at the start, then how much it must pain us to feel those stains, to feel on an immortal level the hurt we have caused? But God’s Light shines always for us, with no condemnation, and only wants us to come Home and be together. And we will when we’re ready.

Ah, listen to me, I sound like someone fused a theologian and James Redfield. :)

Aside from reading anecdotal near-death experiences, sifting religious/spiritual writings and contemplating on them, and applying some thinking, experiences, and in-born predispositions toward love, I must confess to being unable to provide much in the way of citations that would satisfy an entry for all this in a cognitive-surplus vehicle such as Wikipedia. :)