©2001 Jon Youngblood Unity Through Understanding A Guidebook for the Recently Alive

Part Three:  Unity Through Understanding

Chapter Eleven: Heaven, Hell, and Everything

11.1 Here and Now

As I mentioned in the Introduction Paul Tillich described religion as "ultimate concern". One of the greatest challenges in discussing Faith or Physics, is that for many there is an apathy regarding religious or scientific matters. I often hear “that’s all very interesting but what does it have to do with day to day life?” To me this is like asking a devout person what is the relevance of going to church. Or worshiping in the synagogue. From my perspective the reasons seem self-evident. Why do people all around the world devote time out of their lives to pursuits that have nothing to do with material concerns? Strictly mental pursuits with no apparent (to the apathetic) material reward. It doesn’t get the car washed. It doesn’t pay the bills. And so on. What is it that makes some people more or less concerned about altruistic ideals and goals? Education? Parenting? Genetics? (there is some dangerous ground - I leave that to greater minds than my own...)

Babba Ram Das wrote a fascinating piece of work called Be Here Now, that in word and imagery delved into that place inside all of us that is still afraid and wants very much to be concerned but the fear is so great that there may not be an answer at all - just a black void of nothingness - that they become jaded to the whole process of questioning. This fear and frustration I believe is the same as when dealing with other large and seemingly insurmountable issues like the political system. Never discuss religion or politics. How many times have you heard that? It would seem that from both a psychological and sociological point of view, the reasons for not discussing them are the very same reasons that we should be discussing them. However avoidance seems the easiest road in the increasingly hectic lives of modern Homo Sapiens. It’s too frustrating and there is nothing you can do about it anyway.

That the universe is open, is somewhat saddening. The picture of a universe in perpetual expansion and contraction (big bang to big crunch), seems somehow more “alive”. I have always thought of the analogy of this cycle of expansion and contraction to be something like the heartbeat of God. That the universe will expand forever seems rather dead. Which is what it will eventually come to be. No reincarnation for the universe itself. It will expand, grow cold, and die. Never again will there be another big bang. Never again a creation. Never again a sentient mind arising out of a compilation of DNA and cellular wiring within the organ called brain. Never again a Garden of Eden. Never again will the idea of God (or Gods) be pondered by the early and simple mind of beings. Never again a Moses come to teach the chosen people, or a Jesus to set them free from sin. The idea of reincarnation is often appealing because it allows us to re-experience the world anew. You remember the joys of being young. The newness of the world. The joys of discovery. Of exploration. Well, if you only live once, you can never experience those things again. Only if you die and are reborn can you ever hope to experience those things again.

That the universe is open, offers some meaning. Because, baby, this is it! It will only happen once (at least existence itself will) and so you have only one chance to get it right. It is therefore extremely important that life be lived to its fullest. You (in this total existence, if not in this life) only have one chance.