Matter and energy. A rock or the wind. Which one does more?  Matter is inanimate. Energy is a moving, changing, “thing.”  Without energy there is no life.  Without spirit, our bodies cannot exist. Without bodies, our spirit does exist. It “IS.”  Is that what God meant when he created us in His Image?  He is “I AM,” by His own definition, 

I’m going to jump off a ledge here and say that this scientifically proven “energy,” the moving life force, is our theologically revealed soul. If I’m right, I’ll land on a soft pillow, none the worse for the statement. If I’m wrong, I’ll die and disappear forever. But wait! - nothing disappears in nature: It only changes. 

So, when I die, does the real “I” (that loving, feeling person) go on forever? Or does it change into….?  If it doesn’t disappear, unbelievers, what does it become?  If it just joins the physical give-and-take of matter and energy in the Universe, at random, to what purpose?  If, indeed, there is a purpose for the soul, the energy that never dies, what harm can it possibly do to consider that there is a Heaven where forms determined by God alone will be the matter-energy marriage par excellence. Anyone who observes life knows that there is order in nature. Cause and effect reigns.  It would be foolish to conclude that there is no purpose to anything, when we see purpose all around us – and science continues daily to reveal to us the purpose of the microscopic and macroscopic universe in which we live.

To believe that there is a Creator God, who made us for a purpose, need not be a stretch of imagination – especially if one knows the story of creation, man’s downfall, and subsequent salvation by the Christ, the final example of a loving God’s ultimate purpose for us.

OK, so you want proof.  If God is “a god,” we cannot prove Him!  By the very nature of a “god,” He is above and beyond us - but not beyond our comprehension.  Why must we incessantly prove everything! Can you scientifically prove a person’s love for you?  You know it. You feel it. You see the expression of it, but how can anything so sublime as a loving friendship be “proven” by science!  It is, in effect, an expression of spirit.  We do not embrace someone through instinct.  We embrace because love, that intangible presence, moves our thoughts to move our bodies to the embrace.  And we do not separate from the embrace like automatons. Rather we ‘feel’ the love and are the better for it.

What is this word “feel?”   Certainly we feel with our hands and that can be an exquisite experience. But to feel with the heart, is far more exquisite.  Once we have felt a lovely silk scarf and enjoyed the sensation, then laid the scarf down, it’s over. Gone!  But to feel love… that lasts forever – even when the person who embraced us no longer loves us. Then we “feel” the loss deeply.  Our bodies do not feel the loss: our heart does.  Not a sharp pain as in a heart-attack, but an indescribably pain of the (dare I say it!) soul.

What’s the point of all of this?  I have, in my life, known my share of joy and sorrow, and they have deepened my soul to the point of love overflowing.  I can’t keep this to myself! It’s an overflowing of “energy” that I wish to share.  And where I share it most is in my art.  I do not write or paint to become rich and famous. I do so to express the things life has given me that I wish to share with others.  My art may not be the greatest in existence, but if it does not contain the greatest love possible, it is of no avail. It may not portray genius brushstrokes and magnificent composition, but it will contain the love of life, the love of art. You’re not an artist?  But you have a family to raise, you like to cook, you have a humble job that you do well, or you are in charge of an entire company, you are suffering a physical or emotional challenge, you are a loyal friend….the list goes on forever. Whatever you do, it will be great if done with love. Nothing truly good in life is accomplished without love! Where does love come from?  Well...certainly not from a rock.  I guess this is where I say ...amen!