The Domino Effect of Soul-Touching

My father told me he found my musings about the purpose of human life too brief and slightly unsatisfying. I had that same feeling. I keep thinking about this because I care about these kinds of questions a great deal. It matters to me what I think about them, how I speak about them, how I share my thoughts with others, in particular, of course, with my sons.

Two things happened to me yesterday as a media consumer:

a) I watched a Sci-Fi movie called "Invasion" and

b) I read an article in Discover Magazine about humans having to move leap-frog to different planets and planetary systems (in the end to entirely different universes) in order to survive (the time-frame for this, by the way, was several billion years. So don't start packing just yet.)

In the movie humans are infected with a "virus" that makes them 100% tolerant with each other (but not with people who have not been infected). The virus affects people in their sleep, changes nothing about their exterior, but makes them peacable and calm. Nicole Kidman plays a psychologist mother whose son is immune to this virus and, therefore, can not be tolerated by this new brand of humans. The question that's put before her in the movie is

"Do you really not see that we (the new humans) are better than the old version? Why would you want to live as the old version (i.e., with strife, war, hatred, etc.) when you can so easily change to the new one?"


Her answer in the movie is "no, I don't want the new version." Because accepting the new version would mean that she'd have to give up her son, who can't change. Univeral love vs. individual love, in other words.


The article in Discover Magazine describes how changes in the heat and energy output of the sun (which is actually dying) will necessitate an eventual move from earth to Mars and from there on to some of Jupiter's moons and farther even. Ultimately, the article states the whole of the time-space fabric might "rip" (because of 'dark energy' forces) which will make a move to a different universe necessary.

So . . . I am wondering . . . still in line with my previous post about my grandmother: what is the meaning of my relationship with my grandmother, my love for her, in light of these outlooks? What is the meaning of my grief (or my happiness) in light of these enormous changes that might be ahead of us? "Us" is that adhortative pro-noun even still fitting. Is what will happen in a billion years still happening to "us?" One thing is clear to me: my relevance now can not be measured by whether or not I'll still be known then. Because, obviously, nothing about me, personally, will still be known then.

My favored way of thinking through this problem is the "I want to be a domino piece"-way. This is based on the assumption that all things are connected--in space and time. If I am a successful domino piece I will have put out enough energy to push at least one more domino piece such that it will also push another piece, one right next to me, to develop its own energy to push others. This, of course, is more complex than a simple line-up of dominos. Humans have the potential to radiate energy in all directions and, therefore, can affect many other people to do the same.

Another, much less attractive way of thinking about this is to believe in some kind of eternal life juxtaposed with reincarnation. Perhaps our souls do indeed remain alive when we die. Perhaps they do reappear in another body some time down the road. And, perhaps, so they migrate from body to body until, in a billion years, they are part of someone who is about to be shuttled to Mars. As an idea that promotes the separateness of an immortal soul from a mortal body I don't like this idea very much. Souls die along with the body in which they resided. To think differently would devalue the body in a way I'm not comfortable with. Our soul body influence each other. My particular soul would not be what it is without being connected to this body. So, what would it be on its own? I do believe, however, that a certain kind of soulfulness survives in the minds and souls of others. Our souls, this I believe, can truly touch others. Every time we touch another soul our soul "survives" in them. A person touched by my soul can pass on that touch to others. And so it continues. This, of course, is nothing, but a variation of the domino-theory I espoused earlier.

My least favorite, but possibly most realistic idea is that as our bodies decompose the chemical elements of that process will be taken up into new life. Parts of my body will be in the air others breathe. Other parts will be in the grass that cows eat. The cows will, again, be eaten by humans. So, in the end, I will literally become part of the world.

It's quite likely, I think, that these three ways of thinking about this are all part of one grand answer to the problem. They are certainly not mutually exclusive. I can say that the experience of soul-touching is one of the most beautiful and satisfying experiences I have had in my life. Without knowing what they were I can remember them from all the way back to when I was four or five years old (some of them happened with my grandmother). It would take too long to list all the people with whom this happened. And, perhaps, this is why they all continue to be on my mind, really their "fingerprints" are on my soul. And, hopefully, mine on theirs. I am quite intentional about this and seek out those encounters, even with the people I'm simply buying a coffee from. The sense of community and connectedness that comes from this is intense and immense. With a little bit of luck these moments of soul-touching will continue on into the lives of others. Others I haven't met and will never meet, but with whom I have been "in touch" indirectly.

As a father I have to say that soul-touching combined with the domino-effect is probably my highest parenting value. This is probably also the case because I can see so clearly that nothing, absolutely nothing, can happen between parents and their children without these two principles in place. Discipline comes out of soul-touching, good grades do too, vision and creativity come from it and, above all, the willingness and ability to love.