Life's mystery is that it exists at all

It could be a combination of many things that has had me thinking about the meaning of life. I do this in spurts, and then let it go with the realization each time that I cannot get my mind around it.

Everything comes from something-- except something did not--
the Universe or god-- take your pick.
With a Big Bang the Universe began to take form. It is now a creative and destroying universe. What is destroyed is the seed for what will be born again. Is there something behind it? If so, what?
We live. We die. What happens then?
Is there a purpose to mankind's existing at all? If so, what is it?

To these questions I have heard many many answers but they usually disagree. Religions sometimes explain why earth exists, why humans exist, but you have to take their word for it based on faith. Nobody can prove anything beyond what we can measure. We know our bodies are born. We inhabit them (well most of us do). We grow, age (creams, surgery and positive thinking notwithstanding). Whether from that aging, accidents, violence, or illness, we will someday die. That's where proof ends and speculation begins.

Some say it doesn't matter what life is about. They might have adopted the theories of their religions. They might say they never worry about such things. Life is what it is. For many people, trying to understand life's greatest mystery-- why it exists at all-- is a waste of time. It is, however, in my nature to try and understand things. Why life exists is a very big thing.

For me such questions have likely come now at least partly because of watching my little cat go through the last stages of her life, seeing her get old bit by bit and her body deteriorate to the point she finally had to let it go. I still miss her so much, look out at her little grave and feel sadness at my loss, but it has also been a reminder to me of the path we are all on. What she probably unknowingly faced, I also face-- knowingly.

I make myself feel somewhat better about her death by knowing she had a good, full life. Many don't get that much. I am also keeping myself aware in case she should reincarnate and return to me. But that thought represents a huge problem in my mind. How could that work? She came as a stray. How would she find her way back? I am not even sure I'd want her to reincarnate again given how terribly so many animals are treated. Whether reincarnation is true for animals (I had a feeling she had come again from an earlier cat I had) or us, it's not a choice. It's just a question.

My bout of questioning might also be because of all the world turmoil. Is there anyone not upset by what we are seeing in Iran? A government lets people think they have real choices, that they can vote, change directions, and then the leaders try to snatch it away, it's not hard to see how violence might erupt. Do the Iranian people have a real chance for peaceful lives? From a distance we hear about the demonstrations, the political responses, the possible change in the air, but imagine what it would be like to be living through it.

Then how about the North Korean situation where their leaders seem to believe the answer to diplomatic problems is to blow up someone else, and of course themselves, or at least their people, in the process! You think we have climate problems now. Can you imagine if that region of the world (or Iran's) used a nuclear bomb?


To go along with how I was already thinking, I came across this article in the NY Times: [The Origin of Life] where some scientists think they have figured out what could have triggered the growth of organic life forms on earth.

Could our whole existence be a fluke? A comet hit our planet, brought with it the building blocks of life, and from that everything else expanded and evolved? If that is so, it certainly did evolve into a complex world.

In the last month or so Farm Boss and I rediscovered Spielberg's Jurassic Park. If you haven't seen them (first two are best) for awhile, I recommend especially the first regarding this whole idea of life, science, what man can do or perhaps more accurately should do.

The movie, besides being exhilarating entertainment, is a reminder that the earth, for 165 million years, was ruled by dinosaurs. If they had continued to exist, mankind's development would have been unlikely. Chance or something, 65 million years ago sent an asteroid (current theory) setting the stage for an environment in which a new form of life could develop and thrive.

Life is so complex, so intertwined, so brilliantly designed or so chaotically lucky, that you cannot but wonder is this all there is? Is there a spirit being who did all of this or was it just a quirk of the cosmos? Journey to the Edge of the Universe on National Geographic (also available through Netflix) is another reminder of the complexity of life but it provides no answers. It shows what is, not how it got here.When life seems the most complex and confusing to me, I find the greatest joy in small things. Maybe that's why lately I have taken so many close-up photos of my roses. Although I have many tea roses for their intense colors and shapes, I absolutely love old-fashioned climbers. Their flowering may not last all summer but my what it exudes from late spring through early summer. Does any other rose smell so sweet?

In the following photo, I liked how you can see all stages of life on one stem, from the new bud to the withering petals.


And then there was this lucky shot when a bee decided to visit one of my old-fashioned roses just as I was taking its photo. The bee is all about simplicity of life and operating on instincts. Have we, with our oh so complex lifestyle, lost that?

More blogs coming spilling from this topic.