Hoping we take the love inside with us …

by MARK PAVILONS

Legendary rock band Queen once asked the ultimate question:

“Who wants to live forever ... when love must die?”

Even though Freddie Mercury and Brian May said the world has but one sweet moment set aside for us, maybe forever is within our grasp.

“But touch my tears with your lips ... Touch my world with your fingertips ... And we can have forever ... And we can love forever ...”

Patrick Swayze pointed out in Ghost: “It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.”

I don't know why, but that particular quote has stuck with me since I first saw this movie back in the day (it came out in 1990).

Alphaville, in their 1984 hits Forever Young, noted: “Let us die young or let us live forever.”

I choose the latter.

And Emily Dickinson pointed out that: “Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.”

Whether she was referring to the strength of this precious bond or some form of eternalism, we can't be sure. But what if certain things in our perceived existence transcend our perception of time and space?

Our reality is based on what we see, hear and feel on Earth, during our relatively short lifetime.

Are there things beyond our comprehension? You bet. Are there other levels of consciousness, existence, and immortal wonders spread across the universe? Quite likely. Is death the end?

Who knows?

We don't have any perception of just how fast our planet is spinning or travelling through space.

Well folks, for most of us (it depends where on Earth you live), we're spinning at roughly 800 mp/h and our ball is whipping through space at 66,000 mp/h. And we're oblivious to this.

I vividly remember when Comet Hale-Bopp made its appearance over several months in 1996/97. It just hung there, like an image in Starry Night, seemingly frozen in time. And it takes roughly 2,534 years for Hale-Bopp to orbit the sun once, so this was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Breathtaking.

Forces of nature and the universe are formidable, indeed. And we haven't even scratched the surface.

Love is a transformative force, much more powerful than any natural resource or any bounty of riches. And it's quite intangible.

If you ask a dozen of your friends to define it, you'll likely get 12 different answers. And that's okay, because it's a personal thing. It's about one's connection to another, the inner most emotions that spring to life. And that, my friends, can't always be put into words.

Ideas and beliefs on immortality differ the world over, but poets and authors have been writing about this subject for centuries.

Dostoevsky once wrote that if we destroyed the belief in immortality, every living force, including love, would “dry up at once.”

But humankind, given our inherent physical and psychological weaknesses, isn't ready for immortality. We just can't handle it.

We humans can live on, however, through our accomplishments, art, written words, prodigy and impact on others. Some say children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality. It's like a chain reaction of humanity, an electric shock if you will, passed from person to person.

Glorious.

Of course, we can always rely on science for a smidgen of life everlasting. The law of conservation of energy states that energy (our bodies are filled with it) cannot be created or destroyed, but merely change form. Our energy, even in death, is conserved in some way or another.

Our mysterious, infinite universe contains unbelieve amounts of energy –from suns, planets, gravitational forces, and even black holes. The fact everything exists, and co-exists in harmony, is almost beyond comprehension. It's a miracle, plain and simple. If you don't believe in miracles, just look up on a clear summer night and behold.

So, if these immortal forces can create galaxies, what's to say the power of creation and life everlasting isn't a universal constant?

Our planet literally came out of nowhere, bubbled and churned for billions of years until it settled, and conditions became ripe for life. From slimy, cellular beginnings, plants, animals and humans arose. All from a bit of stardust and some unseen mega-power – the creator of all things. As close to God as it gets.

Again, we intelligent humans can't decipher the universe, comprehend the intricacies of the brain, completely fathom the miracle of life/birth and don't know what's in store after we die.

Maybe immortality is kind of wasted on us, since many of us get bored on a Saturday afternoon and can't figure out what to have for dinner on any given week night.

For me, immortality isn't about being remembered or having a likeness carved into stone. Although I like the idea of a bronze statue of myself perched in the town square. It's about preserving one's consciousness –memories, experiences and yes, love – in some otherworldly form. I don't care if I transform into an orb or blob of glowing energy, I just want to continue “being” in some way, shape or form. I can't fathom eternal darkness.

And yet, I (all of us) will have to face that day when it comes.

Recent health issues have forced all kinds of issues to the surface, including the ones I mentioned here. Facing a serious illness is also a transformative force, one that can be feared, or embraced.

“Instead of saying, ‘Why is this happening to me?' Replace it with, ‘What is this teaching me?'”

Learning never ends. Maybe we take all of our accumulated knowledge with us, too.

Fingers crossed.