For those of you that are just tuning in, or Googled ‘spiritual enlightenment’ and somehow wound up here, let me assure you that Sunday Sermons here at Howefitz Blog are anything but sermons. Here I explore matters of the spirit in a way that, I hope, inspires thought within others. I am not here to tell you what to believe, and any viewpoint is welcome…

I regret that I need to start this post with some sad news. We recently learned that one of my teenage step-daughter’s friends passed away last Saturday. We don’t know the circumstances of his death, only that ‘he was found in the morning.’ Now, just that phrase sends a parent in to a frenzy. Was he in to drugs? Was it suicide?

We launched these questions at our daughter in fear for her before we realized that she had to be hurting from the loss of a friend, one of her best.

After calming down and allowing her to talk to her mother privately, I took time to reflect on death and what happens after we die…

Science tells us that matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed. It can, however, be transformed. My body will become dirt once more that will then nourish the plants. But that energy that once propelled my body and gave me the motivation to do all those things that I’ve wanted to do… where does it go? How is it transformed?

Of course, that’s where religion comes in, to handle those matters of the spirit. Some people believe that essence goes to Heaven or Hell, some believe that Heaven is on a planet within this solar system. Some believe that we come back in another form. One of my favorites are the Buddhists, who believe that once a soul achieves Nirvana, it can choose to come back and guide others to Nirvana. This is what the Dalai Lama is believed to be: the reincarnated spirit of Siddhartha Buddha, here to guide others to Nirvana.

So what leads a soul to so desperately have a need to try to destroy itself? I’ve wrestled with this idea on many an occasion. Being a person that has never experienced that feeling myself, I can’t possibly imagine it. But I know there are people out there that do, and I certainly don’t want to take that lightly.

I came up with this scenario. You can call me a romantic. You can certainly call me naive. This is something I thought could possibly be an answer.

When I was young, I had no doubt in my mind that there was one true soul mate out there for me. I also was pretty sure I would never find that person. Those rare times when I would hear of one part of an older couple dying, and the other following soon after, I would think that was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard. But I knew the odds were against me in finding that person for myself. What if my soul mate was on the other side of the world? If there is life on other planets, maybe my soul mate was in another galaxy!

I got to thinking about what we mean by ‘soul mate’. I feel that many believe that a soul mate is another person that compliments you. Someone that you are able to be open and honest with. Someone that is strong when you are weak, and together you make one complete formidable force. Only together are you unstoppable.

But what if it gets deeper than that?

How is it possible that our world’s population continues to grow if the energy that gives life can not be created?

What if a soul can be divided? What if what we perceive as soul mates are actually two pieces of the same soul that has been divided in to two corporeal vessels?

What if a soul got divided not only in space but in time? What if the soul could sense that it’s other half was missing, nowhere to be found?

That could certainly torment someone. Even though a physical brain may not be able to conceive of the notion, what if the soul is fighting for control, looking for some way to be reunited with that other piece, and since there are still no time machines, and as far as I know, ‘The Lake House‘ is fiction, that soul has to find a way, possibly a brutal way, to begin anew.

I’ve probably freaked a few people out. Rest assured, I’m not advocating any kind of violence, even to one’s self. I understand the dangers of romanticizing suicide, and that’s not my intent. I am just wrestling with ideas.

Of course, there are many more scenarios for twisted souls. What makes someone go in to a frenzy and start killing complete strangers? Why do we insist on going to war over religion and greed? How can one side win when both sides believe that God or their gods are on their side?

Of course, these are the questions that humankind has wrestled with since there was a humankind.

As for Kat’s friend, we don’t know his parents, and they had moved out of state before this happened. If Kat knows the circumstances of his death, she’s not being forthcoming. Frankly, this new age of deadly violence in high schools scares me something fierce. My wife are debating seriously whether our little ones will go to public school or if they’ll be home schooled.

Of course, I fear that putting ideas out there like I detailed above will add to the notion that suicide is romantic. I certainly don’t want to do that, but it seemed to work out for that Shakespeare guy…

Any ideas on death and the senseless taking of life are certainly welcome. I apologize for being pretty darn depressing this morning, but it’s all I can think about. The loss of a young life is a lot to deal with, whether it touches you personally or not. This is just my way of trying to make sense of something that, really, there is no way to make sense of.