Growing up, my family and I went to church often. Raising a large family and moving from out of town, church gave my young married parents a social and moral start to their new lives together. We loved it. They taught Sunday School every Sunday, met their lifelong friends, and assured that all seven of us kids went through Lutheran Confirmation.
As an adult, my mind tends to focus on what is -- what I see and touch as opposed to what I might see and might touch someday. This has pulled my energy away from the church over the years. The good shepherd told me that if I have faith in the Bible and live a life of righteousness that I will ascend into heaven when dead and join the afterlife in the sky. I do not doubt this.
You see, most everything that has confused me in life nearly always turns out to have an obvious answer. The vastness of the universe has always perplexed me. Too big and too far to travel, they say. Too dynamic and too confusing to understand, they say. My mind tells me to follow the simple and obvious reasoning. If reaching those worlds is unattainable here in life, it somehow tells me they will be attainable in death. My faith has led me to create my own answers on where my father has gone.
All life here on earth was created from the dust and matter of the universe. If life here on earth is truly only one small remote planet among billions of galaxies, it makes sense to me that our matter and spirit may travel throughout time and space. I want to continue believing in such an awesome concept, no matter how outrageous the beliefs are -- and I encourage all others to follow theirs, no matter how unproven they are.
“I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this cosmos in which we float, like a mote of dust in the morning sky.” -- Carl Sagan
I’m Josh Dettman and that’s my out of this world perspective.
Josh Dettman is a Rockford native and a graduate of Northern Illinois University. He works as an analyst for Nicor Gas and is an avid golfer.
