Some of you may have seen the thread last week in GD about my mom

[A HERETIC I AM]

One was put up by my friend CherokeeProgressive;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025310623

I followed that up with my own, thanking the community for their kindness;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025313739

I just wanted to share this short bit I wrote in one of my posts that gives me comfort. I am by no means a believer in heaven or anything of the sort, but the following concept fits with my perceptions. I hope you folks will find it has some value.

I've had the following thought for many years and this gives me comfort;

Consider a still, mill pond.
A mill pond with no shoreline.
A pond stretching to infinity.

Toss a pebble into the center.
Ripples are formed in a perfect circle
spreading outward, ever outward.
Science and Newtons laws say
that the waves will never cease to be,
just slowly diminish in strength.
But they go on forever.

We are all that pebble.
And the pond is the universe which gave birth to us.
We return to it and become part of it again.

My mothers ripples have just begun their everlasting outward spread
and her essence affects the entire pond
just as we all do


I'm content to be a pebble.

Don't stop telling those close to you that you love them. They could be gone in a nanosecond.

All my best to the A&A group members.

Paul

[NYC_SKP]

1. What a beautiful composition.

And so very true.

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Thank you.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Thanks for the poem.

A friend of mine died of a massive stroke last year. Today is her birthday, and I'm thinking of her, so this is very nice to read.

I'm very sorry about your mother.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Thanks...

[JDPriestly]

3. Thank you.

"We are all that pebble.
And the pond is the universe which gave birth to us.
We return to it and become part of it again."

It is that "universe which gave birth to us" that religions call "God."

Such a beautiful thought. It encompasses all of the myths, all of the beliefs about life of all the people of the earth.

Thank you.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. You're welcome.

As I said below, I think it was about the time my dad passed away that the idea came to me, but I don't really remember the genesis.

[JDPriestly]

13. I view what you are talking about as consistent with Eintein's theory of relativity.

We are energy. Mass is energy. Energy moves from one form to the other, constantly forming new matter, new plants, animals and humans and who knows what else in the universe. But ultimately that energy, that constantly creating and destroying energy is what religions and myths call "God."

I believe that most systems of belief are really saying the same thing but in different ways. Each religion has its own vision but there is one truth, and it does not conflict with anything that scientists have found to be truth based on their evidence.

I am a Unitarian-Universalist. Figures, doesn't it.

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. Well, yes....exactly! sort of! lol

Yeah, You're following (or leading, perhaps) my train of thought.

I suppose the "Pebble and the Pond" is, as you suggested, a conglomeration of the various faith systems and their idea of eternity that I have become familiar with over the years.

[herding cats]

4. Thank you for sharing that.

It is truly beautiful and comforting.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. You are most welcome.

I am glad you found it so.

[Uben]

5. So, I got a rock, ......

...story of my life! LOL

I could tell these words mean a lot to you, and they certainly express one view of how though we do perish, our deeds and thoughts still continue to impact those left behind. They do, and we can thank them for this gift by passing them on to others, and perpetuating the wave.

My dad died in '91. I still think of him almost daily. I notice things I do that I had to get from him. Quirky though they may be, they are the remnants of his life and evidence that what you express is true.

Thanks Paul,

Uben

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. My dad died 14 years ago this month, on the 17th....

also from a stroke. I think it was about that time this thought came to me.

I know exactly what you mean by "Quirky though they may be, they are the remnants of his life..."


You are very welcome.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. So Sorry I didn't see that last Wednesday, Heretic I Am...

I just told someone that very thing that you remind us of….

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. No worries.

Don't stop. Don't stop saying those 3 simple words.

[DesertDiamond]

14. This is the truth of life. We are all part of the universe, and when we leave our bodies we simply

rejoin the universal life force. I know this to be a fact because when people I love have left their bodies I have experienced their life essences all around me, not just in one place, but filling the room. That's why whenever someone says they have lost a loved one I encourage them that their loved one has not left them, but has only left their body.

I feel it's really important that we share this truth with others as much as possible. A very wise man named Daisaku Ikeda said that the greatest suffering in life is simply the fear of death. When people think they are going to either heaven or hell, that their loved ones are going to one of those places, and it's really unclear which one they'll go to because when you look at the many various religious mythologies there's really no clear answer -- and on top of that to think that death separates you from your loved ones. I used to think that way, and yes, that was intense suffering.

That's why I share the truth of our oneness of the universe and with our loved ones with everyone that I can.

Actually, I'm a Buddhist, but my father was an atheist, and I have great respect for atheists as courageous bastions of truth.

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Thanks for that. n/t

[DesertDiamond]

23. And thank you for the great post!

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. I have a question for you, as my brother follows Buddhism.

Would you not agree that, for the most part, Buddhists are Atheist?

By that I mean, a Buddhist endeavors to emulate the Buddha, as opposed to revere him/worship him.

Right?

The Buddha wasn't a god, merely a man that attained perfect understanding of self......?

Or am I laboring under a misapprehension?

[rickyhall]

16. I remember another story about pebbles high school

The Clod and the Pebble
BY WILLIAM BLAKE

"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."

So sung a little Clod of Clay
Trodden with the cattle's feet,
But a Pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:

"Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite."

Actually, I think it's more about the difference between us (Ds) and them (Rs).

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. Interesting.

Thank you!

[JNelson6563]

17. Beautiful thoughts. Much love friend.

[A HERETIC I AM]

20. Thanks, Julie...

[onager]

18. Aaron Freeman, "Eulogy From A Physicist."

And you'll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith.

Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time. You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they'll be comforted to know your energy's still around.

According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you're just less orderly. Amen.

Whole eulogy is here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/28/1205441/-AARON-FREEMAN-EULOGY-FROM-A-PHYSICIST#

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. Well, there you go!

LOL...thanks for that.

[Curmudgeoness]

25. But you said it so much more poetically.

I hope that you are holding up ok. It was hard on me for a long time after my mom passed. I hope you do better than I did.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. You know...that's the thing. I have no idea.

I have yet to have that really good cry I expect.

I've come close a bunch of times but for some reason I do all I can to suppress it. I was talking to her former and current priests of the church she attended regarding a memorial service and I teared up, but instead of just letting it go I did the 'stoic' thing and .....didn't.

I've been by myself for hours and hours since I last saw her. I drove back to Jacksonville - well, part of the way - thursday night and nothing...nothing.

Got home Friday morning, spent all day feeling like crap (I got a bit of a cold somewhere along the line) but still....nothing.

Now I'm back in Detroit, I have the day off tomorrow and I will try and write something. Maybe that will do it. Hell, it might not be till November when we will probably have the memorial service for her at her church.

I know I'm not a cold blooded asshole, but if you had been sitting on my shoulder this whole time, you might start to think otherwise.

I keep expecting the phone to ring and it will be her wondering why the hell she is in the hospital!

I'm beginning to think I may be torturing myself because I was so far away when my dad died. I made it home in time to see her, but she was pretty much gone.


This sucks.

[Curmudgeoness]

27. Don't try to judge yourself

based on stereotypes of what you should do. My mother and I were best friends after my dad died...I had moved back to my hometown when he was sick to help her care for him, and I never ended up leaving again. She didn't drive and we did everything together, so it was very hard on me. But I didn't cry either, even being in the same house we had shared for nine years. It was two years later, when my aunt (her sister) died, and there was a funeral. I broke down so badly that my cousin had to console me. And I know that it wasn't for my aunt that I mourned, although it was sad to see the last of that generation gone.

Maybe it was because we didn't have a funeral or any ritual for my mother. She didn't want it. But maybe there is something to that ritual that goes deeper than just going through the steps.

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. When I finally "lost it" with my dad....

was the moment when the priest poured some of his ashes into the garden at their church.

That was the point when the tears really flowed for the first time.

I know what you mean by the ritual.

It may very well take that for me.

Thank you ever so much for your words.

[kdmorris]

29. {hugs}

What a moving poem...

[A HERETIC I AM]

30. .....

Thanks

[defacto7]

31. Beautiful!

And love those closest to you like you know it's the last time.

I made sure I did that during my Dad's last year and made as much out of life as we could. He died in '95 at age 89. I still miss him and his quiet and earnest love for everyone he met. He was from a mold that seems lost to the past.

You have my support and hopes for a life filled symphony, AHIA.

D7