Like Mick, I am confident that there is a power greater than myself. I am comfortable being clueless about what that power is. Maybe it is a Creator(ess), maybe it is a collective consciousness of all sentient beings, maybe it is simply the power of relaionships. It doesn't really matter.

I understand religous and creation stories as powerful metaphors and tools that are useful in helping one think about the ineffable. People vary in their preference of tools.

When my grandfather died at age 97 I found myself reflecting on how his ways of being in the world shaped my father and in turn my own ways of being in the world. My son, who never knew him, will also be influenced. And so, for better or worse, he will live on as long as there is a chain of influence. The same will hold for you and me, Giok. For all I know, that is what eternal life is. It doesn't really matter. Meaning is what matters and each of us have to make meaning for ourselves.

Janie