This I Believe

“THIS I BELIEVE” Essay

My beliefs have evolved and are evolving. This is what I believe today.

I believe that the physical universe follows immutable and theoretically knowable scientific laws. The exquisite details of these laws in governing everything – from electrons to messenger RNA to seratonin to umbilical cords to eyesight to puberty to the biologic significance of grandparents to the Grand Canyon to global weather patterns – and the almost endless variety of creation – from the light spectrum, to stars, to black holes, to planets, to volcanoes, to sponges, to narwhals, to Sequoias, to platypuses, to buffalo, to butterflies, to the Maori – all are awe-inspiring and due reverence and respect.

These are our miracles.

I believe there was a beginning to the physical universe. I do not know what to believe about how or from what it was created, but I believe that the very act of creation is inherently good and that goodness is a basic element of all that has followed. I believe the laws of nature were set at the beginning, and the universe and all life have evolved on their own, without external intervention. Humankind acts freely, within the sometimes loose, sometimes constricting cloak of these laws. There seem to be infinite ways that we can sully and degrade our lives and the world around us. Out of the billions of people who have evolved and are brought up in this world, some are burdened by the inability to find the good in themselves or to act in ways to help humankind live in harmony with all creation. But some are “blessed” with the ability to maximize their gifts and to bring out the best in everything around them. Most of us are somewhere in between, burdened with our handicaps due to our physical, environmental, economic circumstances, but blessed with curiosity, creativity and most of all love, which when nurtured and spread, can allow each of us to be our best selves. There are infinite ways to celebrate and participate in the goodness that is creation.

From both the intellectual exercise of thinking about what may have been there before the beginning of the physical universe and from what I view as my own spiritual experiences, I believe that, in addition to our intellectual, physical and emotional faculties we have a soul; that our souls are not of the physical world and are not of the conscious world but underlie and suffuse all that we are. Because I feel most alive, most whole, most holy when I am in true communion with other people, I believe that all of our souls are part of an infinitely deep, boundless and divine well. The very oneness of this well of souls is the basis of our connectedness to each other. The oneness of this well of souls implies a support, love and goodness in its existence. This well of souls, I believe, has no beginning and no end. From it has sprung the physical universe, which, when it can connect and know this underlying oneness, can also experience its infinite support, love and goodness. We humans are made of clay, or, if you prefer, star dust, but our souls are the light within us. We can slog through the world of clay and dust, or we can allow the light of our soul to infuse and animate all that we do.

How should we live our lives? We should live in appreciation of the world around us and of our lives. We should strive to identify our strengths and gifts and use them to the fullest. We should strive to identify our weaknesses and burdens and work at not letting them get in the way of becoming our best selves. All of this attending to ourselves should be done in the context of our living in community with others. As long as we are not diminishing ourselves, we should always choose the path that helps others. All of creation deserves our respect. Being good and helping others helps advance humankind toward peace and oneness.

What are the consequences of bad behavior? Bad behavior can be its own punishment, because it represents separation from the divine. There are also usually consequences in the world for bad behavior, which can be unpleasant. I view sin as anything that diminishes or destroys as opposed to builds or creates.

What happens to our souls when we die? I believe they return to the well, which can be viewed as Nirvana. I think I believe in karma and reincarnation; i.e., our souls coming back repeatedly in different lives until we have worked out our bad karma and achieve Nirvana. That’s possible. My Presbyterian upbringing still hangs with me in the sense that I am comfortable in talking about salvation, which to me is like achieving Nirvana. I believe that we have to achieve salvation on our own and that we are all capable of achieving salvation, but I don’t think I believe that everyone is saved, at least not on the basis of one life. I don’t believe there is a God that saves us by his grace or that God can forgive us for our sins. In order for our sins to be washed away, we have to do the washing, by making amends, working on understanding our behavior and correcting our behavior.