Thought for the Week
The word nothing doesn’t mean “non-existence.” It only means the absence of a specific or defined thing. For example, a buyer might ask a property owner whether there is “anything” on a particular parcel of land. And the owner, understanding the question to mean “are there any human-made structures there?” might reply, “No, nothing.” The parcel may, in fact, be teeming with life. But that is not what the buyer sought to know. Therefore, when a person dies and someone observes that they have “ceased to exist,” they can only mean that the collection of cells called “Jordan” or “Lisa” has ceased to exist. Or rather that the animation of those cells has ceased. The cells themselves are still present. But they are in the midst of changing. Likewise, the spirit that animated them still exists. But it too has changed.
“Therefore, remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well, before the dust returns to the ground from which it came…and the spirit returns to the God who gave it.”
~Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
Mitch Teemley 
Very true – a box of nothing is still a box, so that’s something.
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“Maybe,” replied Schrödinger’s Cat. ;>)
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Fantastic bro.You have beautifully explained the fact of changing a mortal body into dust.Thanks a lot for sharing.Take care.🌹👍🙏
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Deep.
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I try. ;>)
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this is absolutely beautiful………..thank you!
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Thank you, Wendi.
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thank you……….this is an absolutely wonderful read….
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ecclesiastes 37: delight in the lord & commit
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These words don’t appear in the book of Ecclesiastes, Rudy.
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https://blindfaithministries.wordpress.com/tag/psalm-6939/ for anita’s hope
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Yup, even when there is Nothing, Nothing is a concept, and that’s something. I loved all the slippery slopes we slid down in college Philosophy courses discussing Nothing. The classes all might as well have Ben called Chutes N Ladders. We always came back to the same thing, always got back on topic… to Nothing. Man, the Nothing Garden sure got root-tilled a lot.
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Yep, that’s college philosophy for you. The goal is to be deep. And what’s deeper than nothing? Thanks for the reflection, Jordan!
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You’re welcome, Mitch. I remember bringing a bowling ball to class for the “Is life just a dream?” session. I held it up in front of someone and dropped it with, “Don’t move your foot.” They moved. Instant A+, and big guffaws of laughs from the Prof.
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;>) Brilliant.
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Exist, from the latin existere – to stand out, to stand apart, to emerge. The word is relational and contextual. It implies that the existence of anything is in relation to something else. That’s how our brains work, concrete thinkers that we are. It’s also why so many of us have trouble with good theology and quantum theory. It’s why some kid in Sunday School invariably asks, “Yeah, but where did God come from?”
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A friend’s college philosophy teacher once posed the old “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” question. Everyone agreed there was no way to know. But Dave said, “Sure there is. Leave a tape recorder running next to the tree and come back later.” He kind of missed the subtext, I suspect, but I got a kick out of his solution.
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“The cells themselves are still present. But they are in the midst of changing.” I love this!
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How profound! I loved this post, it really causes one to reflect.
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