Of all the  goings on in the universe of which I’m aware, I think life is the most fascinating and thoroughly unexplainable.

Looking up at the stars at night has always made me feel how infinitely insignificant I am. Yet, as I ponder things like black holes, subatomic particles, alternate universes, worm holes, etc., none seem as baffling to me as the reason an ant exists to crawl across my kitchen counter. I can understand gravity. I can fathom nuclear reactions. But I have no earthly idea why I’m here to do these things. It is fascinating.

This makes me confused as to why we, as a species, are so easily able and willing to extinguish each others’ lives and, without reason, the lives of so many other creatures.

Most people believe in a supreme being. This, I think, makes sense. What else can one do when confronted with the likelihood that death is what it appears to be…oblivion. The comfort a religiously faithful person must find in the belief that existence continues in an afterlife must be profound.

But what if there isn’t anything after our earthly existence? What if our experience after we die mirrors what it was prior to our being conceived? Perhaps some consideration should be given to that possibility. Would that change the dynamic toward less propensity for ending lives in the expectance a supreme being would make things all right?

Could deliberately ending a life, even to put an end to excruciating pain, be considered humane? Would we execute people? Would we put our pets “to sleep”? Would we perform abortions? Would suicide be as common? Would medically assisted euthanasia be touted as caring and dignified? Would we kill the ant crawling on our kitchen counter?

Would there be more care taken to avoid mistakes and oversights in the medical profession? Would we be less likely to be confrontational with one another? Would the idea of procreation take on a different and perhaps more responsible flavor?

I honestly don’t know.

Death certainly has its place. It occurs (paradoxically) because it is vital; but it might last much longer than anyone who can’t wrap their mind around infinity can imagine.

As you may have guessed, I am a fan of life. I think a cheerleading squad should be formed.

I normally try to make my posts humorous and this one has been serious, so I’ll end with an old  joke.

A travelling salesman’s car breaks down, so he goes to a nearby farmhouse where he’s met by the farmer’s beautiful, naked daughter. I forget how the rest of it goes.