Contemplations on Life
Some believe that our place in the miraculous river of life is all there is. A deep sense in me says otherwise.
Since retiring, I’ve written several pieces reflecting on elderhood. The last one is now several years old.
These pieces have been contemplations on the physicality of reaching a certain age. They reflect an embracing of – and even a rejoicing in – our final years on the planet. I think of these as my ‘early stage’ elderhood musings. Lately, though, I’ve been moving into more ‘late stage’ elderhood contemplations about the meaning of my infinitesimally tiny place in the extraordinarily gigantic universe.
We don’t know if Earth’s living system is unique. We may never know. What we do know, though, is that life kicked off here some 3.7 billion years ago. It was slow going at first. Things didn’t really get interesting until after the Cambrian Explosion. In the short 500 million years since then, life has generated a long multitudinous line of diverse living organisms.
We’re not quite sure when human consciousness emerged. It was probably sometime after the appearance of anatomically Homo sapiens (around 300,000 years ago) and before the Neolithic Revolution (around 10,000 years ago), when agriculture and large-scale settlements began. Only in the last blink of an eye has the long trajectory of earthly life endowed creatures with consciousness.
We all continue to participate, both consciously and unconsciously, in life’s ongoing evolution. Some of us have been blessed with progeny. But life’s supporting cast extends well beyond those who procreated. Supporting family members, co-workers, friends, and even strangers supports life. Holding a job, purchasing goods, and paying taxes supports life. Caring about and protecting all of Mother Earth’s life forms supports life.
I do not know what is in store for me in the afterlife. I do not know whether my consciousness will survive the demise of my physical body. That mystery will remain until I pass through the veil awaiting the end of my life. What I continue to wrestle with, though, is the question of meaning, i.e., what is it about my existence that transcends my mere physical presence? Some believe that our place in the miraculous river of life is enough … that this is all there is. A deep sense in me says otherwise.