By guest-writer Christina Stone
“Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to becoming you. We are each so atomically numerous and so vigorously recycled at death that a significant number of our atoms – up to a billion for each of us, it has been suggested – probably once belonged to Shakespeare. A billion more each came from Buddha and Genghis Khan and Beethoven, and any other historical figure you care to name. So we are all reincarnations – though short-lived ones. When we die our atoms will disassemble and move off to find new uses elsewhere – as part of a leaf or other human being or drop of dew.”
- A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
I read this quote a few years ago and it always stuck with me, (ME, possess a particle of Shakespeare?! My dreams have come true!). I thought in light of Obama’s recent Jedi reference now would be a good time to re-examine this idea.
Recently a friend asked me which religion I followed. I quickly and a little flippantly answered: “Jedi!” I was joking of course, but all jokes carry truth. (Though I’m not quite to the point of lifting X-Wing Fighter Jets from swamps…YET.)
Jokes aside, let’s look at what Yoda tells us about the Force: “Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you…me…the tree…the rock…everywhere!”
So if we are to believe Yoda, there is a seemingly mystical force connecting everything on Earth (or Dagobah) It’s not really science fiction, its just science! Specifically, atoms. “They are everywhere and they constitute every thing….Not just the solid things like walls and tables and sofas, but the air in between,” says Bryson. There IS actually an unseen force that surrounds and connects us to one another. It’s the energy expressed by and communicating through these atoms, which are all part of a greater whole. We are all literally made of the same stuff as mountains, trees, books tables, other people, and other planets.
Look around you. Feel the force. Find connection with the ground, with nature, with a book you love, or with another person. After all, on a deep (and small!) enough level, it’s all the same—all one being. Call it atoms, call it the force, call it God, energy, attraction. Or maybe, call it love. Universal love that binds us to everyone and everything.
By guest-writer Christina Stone
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Haha, great post. If someone asked me to which religion I belong, my usual answer would be what Gandhi said: “I am Hindu. But I am also Christian, Muslim, Hebrew and Buddhist.”
By saying this, Gandhi implied that he was not bound by any set rules, which most religions have.
But from now on, I’m Jedi.
Glad you enjoyed it, Alexander. I couldn’t agree with you (and Ghandi) more.