What an interesting prompt Teresa has given us today. I had to think about this one. I saw the prompt this morning before I set out for the day with Jack. I was talking about it in the car with him. We ended up having a fascinating discussion about living forever.
Your challenge today, should you accept it, is to explore infinity. Write your take on the Science Fiction subgenre of Immortality and see where it leads…or whatever/wherever the picture takes you.
https://maplesswanderer.wordpress.com/2020/01/12/daily-writing-prompt-12/
Just to set the scene for this, I imagined a time in the future when humans will be living forever. But they are trying to understand the difference between the everlasting life they enjoy and other creatures who are immortal.
“If we have the potential to live forever, how is that we are not immortal?”
Micah smiled, “That’s an excellent question Zak, let’s open it up to the entire gathering and see if we can understand the answer to this question together. First of all let me ask, what does immortality mean?”
An abundance of hands shot up. Micah selected one of those who had raised their hands, “Yes, Veena, would you like to explain?”
Veena’s confident reply was, “We know we can life forever. Indeed, we live with forever in mind. But we are mortal. It is possible for our lives to cease to exist. To be immortal means possessing an indestructible life. It is impossible to die if one is immortal.”
“Excellent. Is there anything else that immortality includes?” Less hands rose in response to this question. Micah chose Jabin to comment.
“To be immortal means that one’s life is self-sustaining. One who is immortal is no longer dependant on sustenance to maintain their life. They cannot run out of sustenance and deteriorate. Immortal creatures have an abundance of life within themselves that does not require external refueling.”
Micah nodded in agreement, “So Zak, how long have you lived for now?”
Zak pulled a face, “It’s hard to keep track. But I remember my firstborn son being born, that was 3,627,784,200,146 years ago.”
“How many of those days have you needed sustenance in some form?”
Zak thought to himself, “Everyday we drink water and eat food. We are sustained by the breath we take in. The food we eat requires the sustenance of light and the natural elements.”
“Without sustenance, our energy would dwindle and become depleted, our lives would end. We would die. Many here today did experience deterioration of their health and their bodies when we suffered the consequences of the inheritance the first two humans passed onto us. However, our Creator restored life to us. But we realize that we still depend on our Creator’s provisions to maintain our life. Whereas those who are immortal are self-sustaining. They do not depend on any external sustenance. They have abundant self-sustaining energy within themselves.”
Ahmad raised his hand and asked, “So although we can live forever, we are mortal because it is still possible for us to die?”
Micah nodded, “Yes Ahmad. Life is a gift. Our Creator sustains our life and has promised to do so forever. But as we know from the history books, some intelligent creatures have chosen to commit wrong acts repeatedly. They were given ample opportunity to change their thinking, but they were not interested in the peace of the universe. They sought their own greatness, they wanted to gather for themselves greedily, they sought to be superior to other creatures and to be worshipped as greater than others. They stubbornly refused to change. Our Creator judged when it was clear that they were unwilling to change and he withheld the gift of life. They ceased to exist.”
Paloma raised her hand with a question, “Is that what happened to some of the angels?”
Micah confirmed it was, “As you all know it was an angel who first chose to do wrong. He sought worship for himself. He desired glory and dominance. The wickedness of his thinking became evident over the following six thousand years. Sadly, other angels and many humans followed his example. They were interested in their own fame, their own greatness, their own glory. They did not care about our Creator’s wonderful purpose for our original home planet earth. They abused people, animals and the resources of Planet Earth for their own gain. They lost regard for the lives and wellbeing of others. They were proved thoroughly selfish and truly wicked. For that reason, our Creator did not consider them worthy of living forever. They ceased to exist.”
Rastik asked, “So those angels were also mortal? Despite having lived for millenia, it was still possible for them to die?”
“Indeed, it was,” said Micah, “Their lives were also dependant on sustenance provided by our Creator. Although they are not made of matter, their lives still required sustenance provided by our Creator. When he executed his judgement on those wicked spirit creatures, they ceased to exist.”
Joslin had another question for Micah, “Why did our Creator choose some humans who were mortal and change them into immortal spirit creatures? Were they better than all other humans?”
Micah invited others at the gathering to reply to this. He saw that John was present, so was Noah, Enoch and Daniel. Jonah, Ruth and David. Abel, Rahab and Joseph. Moses, Jeremiah and Esther. Hannah, Joshua and Jacob. “No, it was not because of being better, or the best. There is no class system amongst loyal creatures. Although those who were given immortality were rewarded due to their loyalty. But there was a limited time period when the opportunity was open to obedient humans. It was our Creator who selected individuals and it was for a unique purpose. Why our Creator chose for some humans despite the mistakes they had made and the weaknesses they had to be rewarded is a fascinating discussion. We will consider it further at our next gathering. But before then, contemplate this question: What did the original rebellious spirit creature accuse the entire human family of?”
Job raised his hand and Micah asked him to share his experience, “He insinuated that all human creation was corrupt. He alleged that any human is only interested in their own material comforts and that if they were to suffer they would curse their existence and their Creator. To prove his point, he inflicted great suffering on right-hearted humans, while often making life easier for those who imitated his wicked ways. Our Creator had confidence that humans were capable of unselfish love and loyalty. He also knew they had the potential for precious qualities. Indeed, it was while being tested with suffering, that many humans showed outstanding qualities that even the angels marvelled at. Loyal humans became an inspiration to many obedient spirit creatures, who witnessed their unshakable love and faith.”
Micah directed his next comment directly towards Job, “The outstanding loyalty of humans who experienced great suffering proved that the Devil was a liar. That wicked spirit creature had sought his own glory and fame. But our Creator answered his question in a way that would have utterly humiliated him. As well as realizing that his own life would end and he would cease to exist, that wicked spirit creature, who made himself the Devil, saw something that would have enraged him. A small number of those loyal humans that had inferior power and abilities to spirit creatures, were chosen to become Kings and Judges in the government our Creator had established. They became immortal. The wicked spirit creature who opposed our Creator was mortal.”
Kurt posed the question, “So did those humans become angels?”
“They work alongside the angels closely in carrying out our Creator’s purposes for this universe. However, they differ from the angels. Those loyal humans became a new creation. They became immortal spirit creatures who would never ever cease to exist. The angels our Creator made before humans are mortal. Their lives could cease to exist. That is how much confidence our Creator had in mortal humans. He was willing to extend the gift of immortality, indestructible, self-sustaining life to those who he chose to serve in the government He had established to restore peace and to undo all of the damage the Devil had caused.”
Kim raised her hand, “It is no wonder that the Devil hated humans so much and caused so much misery.”
Micah acknowledged Kim’s remark, “When we ask those who lived during the end of the corrupt system the Devil was ruling over behind the scenes, they report that especially at that time, cruelty was becoming unimaginably abhorrent. It was very clear that the Devil was furious at his fate, and was determined to unleash as much suffering as he possibly could before he was executed.”
Philippe thought out loud, “It must have been a terrible time to live through.”
“For those who lived through those times, it took many decades, for some hundreds of years, to recover from the trauma of what they had seen. But if you ask them now, it seems like a distant memory. Indeed, now that the whole universe enjoys peace and security, the wickedness that some individuals displayed seems almost unreal. But, it is wise for us not to forget the important lessons that history teaches us. Indeed our everlasting life is dependant on us recognising that it is only because our Creator extends the gift of life to us that we exist. He truly wants us to go on living forever. He has made life exquisite for his creatures.”
Jack had to help me out with my complete mental fog when it came to this week’s theme for SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY. His suggestion actually surprised me. It is my kind of music. Not so much Jack’s, although he does like this song. He said it was quite an anthem. He is right, it was very much a Britpop anthem.
So…the song that Jack suggested is a cracker! I hope you like this song. It was a huge hit here in England, I don’t know about other countries. But if you haven’t heard it yet, well, it is about time you did!
I have chosen a song by Blur, called “End Of A Century”. I had this song in my head at the turn of the year. I was in the local supermarket at around five o’clock in the afternoon. I could hear a young woman loudly shouting obscenities. There was a security guard advising the group of women to behave or else they would be asked to leave. As I walked past them, I realized that these pretty young women, dressed up in glitzy clothing all wreaked of alcohol and they were behaving abonibly. I expect that kind of scene outside some nasty nightclub in Putney at two o’clock in the morning at the weekend, but not in the middle of a supermarket when families and people of all ages are trying to buy their groceries. They were a complete disgrace.
I think the lyrics to this song do touch on a certain “culture” among young adults. It’s not a healthy culture. But it is there. Some people just want to fit in with that culture. I found as a teenager when I was working for the record company and going to clubs and pubs, I was disgusted by the behavior I saw. I couldn’t wait to break free and be able to breath in clean air.
I read that the song was actually referring to the way couples end up staying in instead of going out. Rather than romantic gazing across candlelight, they stare in the light from the television. There is also a reference to people reflecting and having hopes for the future but neglecting to take care of the present.
Caramel 