It Gets Good Again

Today's post is for those who have recently lost a loved one to suicide.

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day that perfectly matched my mood.  The weather was warm and sunny, with a touch of a cool breeze.  The fall colors were in full display... red, gold and copper, with a touch of summer green still remaining.

I had a date day with my wonderful wife.  We started the afternoon with a great lunch at a local restaurant that had just opened.  The place has an upscale yet homey atmosphere, and we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals.  From there, we made our way north of town and spent an hour or so walking area nature trails.

I was well aware that yesterday was the three year anniversary of the day that my best friend committed suicide.  I noted how completely different it was from that horrible day.  On that day it was cold and gray, with a frigid, heavy rain that was just shy of snow.  It was almost impossible to know where the rain ended and my tears began, except that my tears were warm.  Helping my friend's widow tell her young girls that their dad had just taken his own life was a complete contrast to the peace I felt walking through the woods, and the contentment I experienced as I walked hand-in-hand with my wife.

Earlier in the day, I performed military honor guard duty at a local Boy Scout camp, rededicating their veterans fire ring.  My friend and I were both active in Boy Scouts, and I was cognizant of how our past intersected with the present, but again, I wasn't grief striken.  I missed his presence, but I honored his memory, and was grateful for the time we had together as I enjoyed the moment.

Let me be clear... there will always be a touch of sadness that my best friend took his own life.  There will always be a Greg-shaped scar on my soul.  But if you have recently lost a friend to suicide, it's important to know that it won't always be as bad as it is today.  I know you've heard 'it gets better.'  But that's not enough.  You need to understand that it gets good again.  I know this, because I'm living it.  Keep moving forward.  It gets good again.

The Theory of God

I read an article today that says physicist Stephen Hawking, in his final book, proclaimed that God does not exist. I find his declaration kind of interesting.  Hawking was a brilliant man, with an incredible mind.  He was a firm supporter of M Theory as a complete explanation of how the universe works.  The thing is, M Theory requires eleven dimensions in order to work, and it's for this reason I'm a bit perplexed why Hawking didn't believe in God.  Allow me to use an analogy to explain.

It should go without saying that we experience life in four dimensions... length, width, depth and time.  Now, imagine a world of two dimensions.  These two-dimensional beings have length and width, but cannot grasp the concepts of depth and time.  In short, their experience is half of ours.  They cannot move, because they don't exist in time the same way that we do.  They will never notice a shadow, because they do not experience depth.  Human beings "create" two-dimensional things all the time through drawing, painting, photography, and so forth.  These "creations" would rightly consider the painter, sketch artist or photographer a god, because the artist did indeed create the art.  The creator experiences all four dimensions... two dimensions more than the creation could ever possibly comprehend, and exists outside of its own creation.  Now, let's take my analogy to the next level.

As I said before, mankind exists in a world of four dimensions... but Hawking postulated that our universe has eleven dimensions.  The flaw in Hawking's conclusion that no God exists is that he failed to acknowledge the possibility of an eleven-dimensional being.  This is even more interesting, because Hawking believed in the existence of alien life.  I find it interesting that Hawking's system of belief allowed for alien life, but did not leave room for the existence of an eleven-dimensional being... a being that would certainly qualify as God based on our limited understanding.  Indeed, God doesn't need to exist in all eleven dimensions in order to be able to create us in a matter similar to how we "create" two-dimensional art.

I understand that two-dimensional art doesn't "exist" in the same manner that we do.  Two-dimensional art doesn't experience reality... it isn't life, thus my analogy is imperfect.  However, this analogy should adequately explain why I'm so puzzled over Hawkings certainty that God doesn't exist, while simultaneously believing in eleven dimensions.