Posts from — December 2008

I was born in Augusta, Ga, certainly not a unique entry point for my involuntary thrust into existence. Although I have no recollection of my pre-corporeal configuration, I like to imagine myself reading a blank newspaper in God’s waiting room. While attentively listening to His loudspeaker, I eagerly anticipate the calling of my lottery ticket. “Number 4,353,927,592,727”. I drop my imaginary newspaper and rejoice in my selection. My time has finally come. A collective sigh is let out by the multitudes of “souls” whose tickets have yet to be validated. Unfortunately this mysterious  transfiguration does not come with a manual. I had no teleological conference with God, no adjustment period, nor any move out inspection. In fact I do not even re-call purchasing the lottery ticket. I am simply thrown into existence at a seemingly arbitrary location in the Southeast of United States. “Looking back”,  it seems clear to me that this memory is no doubt an illusion.  Admittedly, I didn’t even possess the neurological faculties to construct memory at this nascent stage of my existence.
So what am I, now a young man, to make of this vague confusion. A few simple questions undoubtedly arise. Why then? Why there? And most importantly why me? Of course trying to ascribe any anthropomorphic emotions and ideas, (i.e. purpose, doubt or confusion) to this period of life is futile, especially concerning the nature of  pre-existence. However because of the causality we enjoy and utilize so much in the human condition, I find myself nonetheless positing questions about this pre-natal experience. Does what happened to me before I am aware of my own existence have any effect on my life? The answer is seemingly obvious in that it must matter. For example, what if I were to develop an illness or defect during my birth? In fact what if I simply didn’t “make it”? However did such death really happen to ME? Or perhaps my death only existed in the consciousness of others?

[Read more →]