Faith

When you are dead and gone, what happens? I suppose some of you "know" (I quote this, because regardless of the strength of your faith, you truly will not know, until you pass on) and some of you haven't the foggiest. My interpretation is drawn from the vast resources of my own thoughts mixed with that of popular religion. With the exception of atheists and some other religions, I'm sure, we all believe in some sort of being as our creator. Even if you are scientific minded, as myself, the Big Bang Theory only takes one so far. Science strives to explain everything, but it cannot ever attain that goal. I think I remember hearing about the theories of pre-Big Bang Era, where there were many planets and stars revolving around this gigantic star. I don't remember what caused the Big Bang, but alas, it seems a believable theory. What happened before that? A bunch of planets and stars just chilled out in the small universe? What created those planets? How did it all begin?

In my eyes, the only rational explanation is that something created it. Some may question why a rational explanation is necessary. Why do we need to know? Who cares? That is up to personal preference. But one of the wonders of being human is reasoning. You, unlike animals and plants, as far as we know, anyway, are capable of pondering many thoughts, and to just leave some things unanswered may seem wasteful of this ability. Of course, some things shouldn't be reasoned, but forgive me for not providing any examples. My personal belief is that time is circular; that these events have occurred before. Maybe not in exact identical sequence, perhaps not in redundancy, but in a repeated fashion. Physicists tell us that the universe is expanding and that it has been since the Big Bang and that it will begin to collapse eventually. Energy is conserved, it is neither created nor destroyed, so it makes sense that an ever-expanding universe is not logical. That is of course, only if you trust in our understanding of physics and the universe.

You could argue that I'm not using my reasoning ability and just accepting what we already know. You are right and you are wrong. I've studied these things, so I have personal understanding of these concepts, but I haven't interpreted them in my own way (otherwise they would be a different concept). Unfortunately, because our complete understanding of everything in the universe is greatly lacking, one can only fathom that we've erred in some way until such discoveries are had. Where we begin aids the elucidation of where we end up.

This post could go on forever. If time is circular, are there parallel dimensions? Does an option provided in one's time, create another dimension for the road not taken? If time is circular and eventually repeats, there would be an infinitesimal amount of parallel dimensions. I've tried to reason this out, but it is quite overwhelming. My guess is yes, there are parallel dimensions. I won't go into time travel theories and black holes...yet. At least not in this post.

When you die, what is supposed to happen? Some believe in heaven and hell as reward or punishment for deeds while alive. Others believe that we just turn to dust, that there is no soul. Others believe our souls are recycled via reincarnation. I am currently at a loss in this area. My belief in balance in all things makes me want to believe that we are reincarnated. Yet, because I have a notion of a God, I want to believe that It has greater things planned for us beyond the corporeal form.

When you've passed from this mortal coil, I have to believe that you lose your sense of time. Because "your" time has become unlimited, you wouldn't perceive it any longer. I have one gripe with popular religion, and unfortunately, like most of my gripes with this subject, it is aimed at Christianity. I am but an infant in the understanding of Christianity, but from what I've heard, you do what ever it is you like best in heaven. Doing whatever you like best in heaven is an idea impregnated with fantasy, though. A realistic afterlife wouldn't include mortal pinings or material things. It would be all about the spirituality. You would spend eternity praising God and conversing (if such a thing exists) with other souls. I think I need to talk to some of my Christian buddies about this subject before I further infuriate them.