There is a church a few blocks from our house. I run by it everyday. Though I’ve known about their theology for some time, I’ve always wanted to hear more. I’m not interested in joining…I know enough to have firmly made that decision…but Their are parts I’ve wanted to know more about. In the fall, Saturdays are always yard sale days. Every stop sign seems to have a handmade sign pointing you in the right direction. Unaware of much else…besides my feet hitting the pavement…I just ran by them all. Towards the end of my run, I saw a yard full of interesting stuff. As I was looking around, the owner of the home came up to me and shook my hand. We exchanged small talk for a minute…then, the conversation took a more serious direction. He started giving me the Mormon pitch. There was no doubt that this man was a scholar. I was amazed at his ability to string together facts. I got his hardest presentation of his faith. Though I was polite, I rejected his presentation at every turn. I just wasn’t interested in joining his church and he grew more and more frustrated. Eventually, he inquired, “Do we have anything to discuss?” This was the opening I was looking for, “What do you know about the eternality of the soul?”
It has never made sense to me that God is an eternal being…we are made in the image of God…and yet…we are not eternal. Creation seems to be about the creation of the vessel…the contents are already there. From the Law of the Conservation of Mass, we know that matter is never created or destroyed. From Einstein, we know that energy is neither created nor destroyed. Haven’t we always been matter or energy or thought in the mind of God? If so, we have always existed…our soul has always existed. In our life on earth, I believe that we come from God and we return to God. In the middle, there is God. There is nowhere that we can go that God is not. God is in us and we are in God. What can separate us from the love of God? What can separate our souls from God? Nothing…and this is precisely the reason why I believe that our souls have always existed…whether in the mind of God or in some other form…I believe our souls are eternal.
As we finished up our conversation, he was amazed that I clung to a piece of Mormon theology so tightly. I responded, “I guess God truly does work in mysterious ways.” When we left the conversation, it was apparent that there was a deep connection between us. Our souls must have known each other in another place.
Amen.
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