"Eternal" | Reflection by Patricia Thurston

Jesus talks about God’s promise of eternal life. So, what about God? How are we to understand Eternal Life? And let’s face facts, humans have been defining God for thousands of years, for all kinds of reasons. If recent societal decision-making practices are any indication, humans have a difficult time imagining life 10 years from today, and God is an explanation for supporting short-term objectives. Aren’t we more than our quotidian habits and practices? We’ve begun to realize things about our universe. We understand that, although we still don’t know how we fit in it, we’re not the center of it. We’re more certain the universe is around 13.8 billion years old, with an expiration date of trillions of years from now, or never. Could it be that our planet and the variety of life on it are possible because we’re in a special moment in the universe’s history? Our ancient creation stories put us in the center of our universe and describe our creator according to human experience. What are we left with, when we see that we are not the center of everything, but the center of nothing, and that we evolved from the dust of stars along with all the other creatures and plants? We are left with faith. Not “a faith”, but The Faith in a command to live, to explore and understand what and where we are, and to accept that we cannot adequately define God or Eternity, because both are beyond our short existence. Faith is action. Jesus calls us to action. We are to seek a better understanding of God through living life with each other in love, in the now. Living in loving community changes the way time flows. Could that way of living be the key to eternal life?