Eternity

This posting is not about explaining eternity, rather it is about discussing the effect of eternity on our lives. The gnostic believes that our life is eternal. We do not die, we are only transformed. What is the effect of this on our current existence? Simply put, it means that we have always lived, and will always live. I say this in spite of the fact that nothing upon which we depend for life will have eternal life. The earth will die, the sun will die, the Milky Way Galaxy will die, and our universe will die. Life is an idea. Plato understood the power of ideas. Beethoven wrote the Ninth Symphony. He couldn't hear it except in his mind. It was an idea. It becomes real when a conductor leads an orchestra in playing it, using Beethoven's score. Even if the universe were to die, the idea of the universe, and presumably the life within it will go on, if nothing else as an idea. But what is the orchestra that will bring life to the idea? In our case it is a new universe, presumably made by contact with one of the eleven universes that our great minds have mathematically demonstrated to exist. Does this boggle your mind? Surely, but nonetheless here we are, living and breathing on the planet earth. You might say that the orchestra is all of the matter making up our universe. What does this mean to us? Are we a part of this universe, and are we a part of the idea that lays behind it? The gnostic says yes to this question. When Beethoven and his score are no more, will nature conjure up another Beethoven to replace him? Don't bet against it, you might lose the bet and find yourself living an eternal life. That is the gnostic way.