At this point in your life, there is not much more to say, except it may have been an interesting and adventurous life. There may be many more small mini adventures to go, but as putrid Hilary says, "what difference does it make." So now let's shift to the philosophy of life......or why are we here, what is the purpose of life?

For those of you who attended Catholic school, the first copy of the Baltimore Catechism 1 that is given to students in first grade, asked the question, "Why did God make us." The answer was forth coming in that it said, "God made us to show us His love." At the time, early logic accepted that answer and life moved on.

Our minds, at that time, was like the centuries before man discovered the universe and technology. We believed just about anything that we heard. As we grew older, we start to question answers.

Technology has only been discovered in the last two centuries. Remember the spiral mini fluorescent light bulbs that was to change consumer electric conception. They lasted only a few years before the LED (light emitting diode) was discovered, not invented.

As discovery of the cosmos started, there were many misconceptions about the universe. Remember when there were nine planets that included Pluto. With close flybys of the former planet Pluto, we now can see that Pluto is just part of a large group of asteroids and other debris in orbit near the former Pluto. Remember when space was believed to go in all directions, but now we know that space is somewhat flat and does have edges.

What does this have to do with the purpose of life and why are we here? The answer is easy to understand. If God created the cosmos, then we can descend into the subjects of philosophy and religion. If God did not create the cosmos and the big bang just happened, then we are free to come up with any explanation we want. Also, if God did not create the big bang, then Mother Teresa and Adolph Hitler will have the same outcome.

When one human sperm cell enters a human egg, in that very instant, they are neither. For just a moment in time, it has become a Zygote, no longer a sperm or an egg. In about thirty hours the Zygote divides into the first two cells and a human being is on the way forming from twenty three chromosomes.

The first human cells after the first division from the Zygote.

This is not a religious or political discussion. You did not exist until the Zygote. You were not aware that you didn't exist until after your birth and as your life progressed. Big question: When you die, you may not exist again. In fact, you may not even be aware that you died. Does this mean that Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa have the same destiny to not exist.

Religious studies proclaim that God knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb. When an architect plans a house or building, does not that person know what the finished structure will look like in that person's mind. Until the structure is completed, it does not exist.

Life and the cosmos have a similar fate. Everything in the cosmos cycles. Starting with sound in the human range is from about twenty cycles (20) to  twenty thousand cycles (20,000). Most sound waves can be generated to over one hundred thousand cycles. After the upper limit has been reached, then radio waves start.

Radio waves range can overlap sound waves, but are generated differently, from thirty cycles to over 300 thousand cycles. After that, the light spectrum starts. So much for the physics lesson.

The cosmos also cycles, in a different way, but similar to our existence on mother earth. More than half of the stars we see in the night skies no longer exist and have not existed since before the earth formed. Their light is just now getting here. An infinite number of new suns have existed for eons of time, but their light has not traveled to us where we can see them yet.

Regardless of time and distance, everything cycles, including our birth and death. So what is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of the cosmos? Is the cosmos real; is life real? Albert Einstein said, "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."  Others have said "Life is a grand illusion, with no true meaning." Someone once said that all there is to life is the birth cry, copulation, and the death gurgle. Life is not a waiting room for Heaven.

There are about 275 countries on our planet, 2500 languages, and over 10,000 different religious beliefs. All religious beliefs claim the same credo "we are number one and the other 9,999 religions are not." In religious studies the earth was created in a very short period of time regardless of scientific findings. Some people still believe today that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around the earth. Regardless of scientific proof these peoples mind's are frozen in thought.

However, based on previous death experiences, some believe that the human spirit continues in a form that we cannot comprehend at this time. There are many people who have had a death experience that is more real than life itself.

Transition to the afterlife.

There is a book titled "The Ghost of Flight 401, that is still available on Amazon. This book was written about the crash of a Eastern Airlines Lockheed 1011 in the Florida everglades in the 1970's. After many appearances by the dead Flight Engineer, to many people while flying in a similar aircraft, Eastern took the aircraft out of service.

The aircraft was parked near a small Eastern Airlines hanger at the Houston airport. It stayed parked there for many months until they figured how to keep the dead "ghost" from reappearing. You'll have to buy the book to get the complete story.

So why bring up the dead ghost stories. While none of us can truly explain why we exist and what is the purpose of life, is there is some spirit or soul that continues past life? We all get a turn in the barrel when it comes to dying. This applies to the cosmos as well as to all individuals. Dr. Raymond Moody is a noted psychiatrist had many of his patients tell him of having a death experience. He investigated the many claims and wrote a book called "Life After Life" that was on the best seller list for some time. That book is also available on Amazon.

His many patients described very similar experiences and are convinced that there is an afterlife. The movie "Ghost" was inspired by his book. There have been many skeptics, but one story was verified by nurses and Doctors.

A lady was being operated on for a serious medical problem. Suddenly she was standing by her Doctor and looking at her own body on the operating table. Her Doctor tried to bring her back from being dead, but finally gave up as it was of no further use. He stated to the other people in the operating room that "I guess I will make my Tee time after all."

Suddenly the lady's spirit was moving upward and passed through the walls of the hospital. As she continued vertically, she spotted a small red pocket book laying on the ledge of the hospital one story above the ground level. Within a second more she was back in her body and started to breath. The medical crew rushed back in to complete the operation and she recovered.

A few hours after being in the recovery room, her Doctor and a nurse came in to check on her. The patient mentioned that she heard the Doctor talk about making his Tee time. The startled Doctor wanted to know who told her. She said she stood by the doctor and heard him talk. At first the Doctor and the nurse didn't believe the story until the lady continued.

The nurse in the room and the Doctor listened as she told of her death experience. She mentioned seeing the red purse on the ledge and the nurse said that a few days earlier a lady was visiting a patient on an upper floor and dropped her purse from an open window. The lady rushed outside to find her purse but could not find it thinking that someone ran off with the purse.

This incident was recorded and has made the rounds of many researchers. The names and positions of each witness has been recorded. All these recorded incidents add to the mystery of life and its purpose. Some philosophers believe that we have evolved past the other animals to a higher level of intellect. After all, all of us have at least two percent Neanderthal and many more have four percent Neanderthal. We may be the only beings on this planet that are self aware. So what is the purpose of life? One purpose may be, to be an observer of human kind. To observe the wonder of being self aware and its pointless purpose.

The Torah, from which the various bible versions come from, mention that Adam and Eve had a third son named Seth. Very clearly it mentions that Seth married a women named Sabrial (or Azura) who came from the stars. There is a classic sci fi series called Battle Star Galactica that tells how we evolved from another human species that escaped their galaxy and found its way to present day earth. When they arrived, they discovered Neanderthal mankind and eventually mated with some of these creatures to become modern man. At little farfetched? Perhaps, but it does explain why we have Neanderthal DNA in our blood.

After the creation story from both the Torah and Genesis, on the very next page, both books tell that at the time of Adam and Eve, there were 'people of renown' living at the same time. Where did these people come from? Were they the people that escaped from another galaxy and cohabitated with early man. As our exploration of the cosmos and technology continues, we will soon find these answers. Imminent contact with our long lost cousins may be very near.

Some of you can remember the Saturday afternoon movies at the local movie theater would have serials before the main feature. Each chapter would end with a suspenseful ending that would be continued the next Saturday. One could only speculate as to the outcome. Is not life just like the old time serials. We wait and start each day wondering how that day will turn out.

As Billy Graham once said, "Don't take yourself too seriously and take each day at a time." Amen.