Bravo, Rainn! I just saw this dispatch on my iPhone while preparing to go out for my monthly litter cleanup as a member of my local Keep America Beautiful affilliate. Your message to get outdoors is a powerful one. My message is, while you are out there, pick up litter when you find it! Better yet, become a citizen scientist and document it! There are so many opportunities for the individual to help undo that damage that we have done. Check out the South Carolina Aquarium Citizen Scientist smartphone app, for example. It's a free download and offers the average Joe (or Josephine) the opportunity to contribute to research that might actually help save the planet. There are so many opportunities to make a positive difference. Prayers are fine, but the Good Lord gave us resources to actually get out and do something about it! Have a great weekend, everyone!
These thoughts resonate. I think everyone can find motivation to care for the earth that sustains our life. I'm going to "make my steps...like prayers". Thank you.
I believe that upon death the spirit or consciousness is — finally! — 100 percent liberated from the purely cerebrally based agitation and contempt that may have actually blighted much of its physical existence. Therefore, free of the corporeal shell, the soul may be wondering, ‘Why was I so angry, so much of the time? Oh, the things I said!... I really hope I didn't do damage while I was there’. ...
A few decades ago, I learned from two Latter Day Saints missionaries that their church’s doctrine teaches that the biblical ‘lake of fire’ meant for the truly wicked actually represents an eternal spiritual burning of guilt over one’s corporeal misdeeds. Bemused, I thought and said: “That’s it? Our punishment is our afterlife's guilty conscience?”
During the many years since then, however, I’ve discovered just how formidable intense guilt can be. I’ve also considered and decided that our brain's structural/chemical flaws are what we basically are while our soul is confined within our physical, bodily form. The human soul may be inherently good, on its own; but trapped within the physical body, notably the corruptible brain, oftentimes the soul’s purity may not be able to shine through.
Thus, upon the multi-murderer's physical death, not only would they be 100 percent liberated from the anger and hate that blighted their physical life; their spirit or consciousness would also be forced to exist with the presumably unwanted awareness of the immense amount of needless suffering they personally had caused.
Then again, maybe the human soul goes where it belongs or where it feels comfortable and right — be it hell’, ‘heaven’, somewhere in between, etcetera. This concept was suggested in a very interesting 1987 radio-broadcast sermon titled “A Bird’s Eye View of Hell”, given by a renowned preacher. I wrote a piece of fiction titled Not What It Was Supposed To Be [originally called That Other Place] that's largely themed on this premise.
Thanks Rainn, you moved me to click the “restack” button for the first time.
Peace,
Mark
Sounds wonderful. So great to have that in your memory bank for eternity. ☺️ Bookmark that sh!t. 👏
💚🌎🙏
Bravo, Rainn! I just saw this dispatch on my iPhone while preparing to go out for my monthly litter cleanup as a member of my local Keep America Beautiful affilliate. Your message to get outdoors is a powerful one. My message is, while you are out there, pick up litter when you find it! Better yet, become a citizen scientist and document it! There are so many opportunities for the individual to help undo that damage that we have done. Check out the South Carolina Aquarium Citizen Scientist smartphone app, for example. It's a free download and offers the average Joe (or Josephine) the opportunity to contribute to research that might actually help save the planet. There are so many opportunities to make a positive difference. Prayers are fine, but the Good Lord gave us resources to actually get out and do something about it! Have a great weekend, everyone!
These thoughts resonate. I think everyone can find motivation to care for the earth that sustains our life. I'm going to "make my steps...like prayers". Thank you.
I believe that upon death the spirit or consciousness is — finally! — 100 percent liberated from the purely cerebrally based agitation and contempt that may have actually blighted much of its physical existence. Therefore, free of the corporeal shell, the soul may be wondering, ‘Why was I so angry, so much of the time? Oh, the things I said!... I really hope I didn't do damage while I was there’. ...
A few decades ago, I learned from two Latter Day Saints missionaries that their church’s doctrine teaches that the biblical ‘lake of fire’ meant for the truly wicked actually represents an eternal spiritual burning of guilt over one’s corporeal misdeeds. Bemused, I thought and said: “That’s it? Our punishment is our afterlife's guilty conscience?”
During the many years since then, however, I’ve discovered just how formidable intense guilt can be. I’ve also considered and decided that our brain's structural/chemical flaws are what we basically are while our soul is confined within our physical, bodily form. The human soul may be inherently good, on its own; but trapped within the physical body, notably the corruptible brain, oftentimes the soul’s purity may not be able to shine through.
Thus, upon the multi-murderer's physical death, not only would they be 100 percent liberated from the anger and hate that blighted their physical life; their spirit or consciousness would also be forced to exist with the presumably unwanted awareness of the immense amount of needless suffering they personally had caused.
Then again, maybe the human soul goes where it belongs or where it feels comfortable and right — be it hell’, ‘heaven’, somewhere in between, etcetera. This concept was suggested in a very interesting 1987 radio-broadcast sermon titled “A Bird’s Eye View of Hell”, given by a renowned preacher. I wrote a piece of fiction titled Not What It Was Supposed To Be [originally called That Other Place] that's largely themed on this premise.