Eternal Life, Part 4

Eternal Life, Part 4

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to (have eternal life), go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have your treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21

I once heard that sharks must be in constant motion or they will die. While I cannot vouch for that statement with regard to sharks, it is true of life in generaland is helpful in illuminating eternal life. In all of its forms, life moves. Even when sitting quietly, we breathe, our hearts beat, and electrical impulses course through our nervous system. The body we claim as ours is in unceasing motion. After physical death, the component parts of our bodies continue moving as they decompose and reconstitute into new life forms, and our souls move to other phases of life.

We not only must change in our physical aspects, however, but also emotionally, socially, intellectually, and spiritually. If we remain stagnant in any aspect for too long, that part of us will bring suffering and death. This happens when we try to hold something as it is for too long. When sharing my experiences of fatherhood, I used to say I wanted to stop time at whatever age my children were in order to savor that stage forever. While the sentiment is true, the actual manifestation of that tongue-in-cheek desire would be disastrous and fatal. We cannot hold onto the way things are or were any more than we can hold onto a beautiful sunset. Stopping the motion of life kills it. All of life must forever be on the move. Allowing something to move on to whatever is next does not mean we lose it, however, because whatever it is today will be integrated into the next phase. If we are honest, the beauty of any breath-taking experience is in its transitory, shifting nature. If our understanding of eternal life never moves beyond a static holding of life-experiences in some never-changing aspect, we cannot approach eternal life. It is change that grants life its eternality.

The life and teachings of Jesus the Christ invite us into eternal life, which he called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, not at some future time after we die, but right now. The present moment is the only portal to eternal life. He cautioned against hoarding wealth and possessions because the more we have, the more defended, distracted, and out-of-the-moment we become. In other words, we will fight change for fear of losing our stuff. He favored associating with the poor, outcast, sick, and sinners because those in unfortunate circumstances welcome change and, as such, have more life in them. The life-force, or animating spirit, is like electricity. It must flow through that which it enlivens. If it gets stuck or otherwise stops flowing, whatever it was giving life to also stops. And suffering ensues. When we stop the flow of life-energy through our life-experiences, we become like boulders in a stream. We may stand against the current for a time, but it eventually wears down whatever inhibits its flow. Eternal life is life in motion, and it consumes and transforms everything into its ever-evolving self.

Which is why Jesus emphasized forgiveness. When we hold a grudge against another, we restrict the life-energy flowing into and through ourselves. Like drinking poison in hopes of hurting our enemy, we are the ones who suffer. We do not forgive to forget, nor to suggest another person’s behavior was appropriate. We forgive in order to allow eternal life to resume its flow through us, unimpeded by hurt, hatred, or fear. Love is another name for the life-force, so Jesus’ commands to love our neighbors and enemies were commands to stop allowing our disagreements to impede the life-flow, if for no one’s sake but our own.

The key to entering eternal life is allowing our unchanging center to flow with the ever-changing moment. Whether our current experience is pleasant or painful, if we allow the moment to have its way with us without clinging to or running from it, the moment will change, as will our experience. Always. Eternally. The part of us that is in and of God was never born and never dies. It just is. And that is the unchanging center that transcends the ever-shifting sands of manifested life.

This is the 33^rd in a series of Life Notes on Time and Eternity. The opinions expressed are mine. To engage with me or to explore contemplative spiritual direction, contact me at ghildenbrand@sunflower.com.

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