I have thought about our souls and salvation all my life- with great fear and longing when I was younger. As I have aged my outlook has changed from personal concern for my future to gratitude for what I have received and the unearned privilege of another day of human consciousness.
I was never able to imagine a meaningful salvation of a soul that lacked both memory of the past and a language to express it. I also accept that we are specks in the cosmos and much is beyond our ability to sense or comprehend.
I now think of the soul that men have or don't have as being a relationship with other living things, especially people, but also with all the things we deem as inanimate but experience through our senses. Our only immortality is our choices.
I believe modern society and technology has created a flood of people who are disconnected from each other and from any meaningful tradition. One of the miracles of modern science is an explosion of the number of people. The rapid increase in the number of people has not been offset by a corresponding increase in the efficiency of the use of natural resources consistent with maintaining the health of our environment. At the same time, the nature of work has changed as we become ever smaller parts in ever larger and more complex organizations.
We have evolved into a highly mobile society and most people are no longer rooted in a single community with family members and lifelong friends and neighbors. It is now common for people to be surrounded by strangers and live in a land that they did not explore as children and juveniles. In modern society, many of our friends and colleagues are virtual entities. We have not shaken hands in months, years, or in some cases, ever. This is not how we evolved or how our societies evolved, but here we are.
It feels like we are dispensable as individuals. I believe many people have a deep sense of being abused by their circumstances. We are learning that sociopaths thrive in this new environment. We have much to do.
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