Immortality: Memory and Soul Deep

Immortality. A word that most would scoff at even having the ability to achieve this state of being. Yet it is uncannily woven into the fiber of our lives, simply waiting for the human person to realize it and use its potential. It is a paradox indeed, when we contemplate our humanity. A mortal body yet encasing an immortal soul. What mystery is this, that we are created as a union of the mortal and immortal aspects in life!

I acknowledge immortality as a mystery of human life. I know that whatever I will speak of this subject matter will never be enough because my human reasoning is limited. But I will still try to tell what I think and believe about immortality because it is my innate right to wonder, to record the marvels of my existence.

I think of immortality in two definitions. First, I see immortality in the way people seem alive through the memories that are evoked from their marks in the world, even long after their death. We see it in history wherein children through all generations are educated on the things that have been done in the past and in the process, they learn about the important people whose deeds immortalized their existence, in one way or the other. Even though these people are dead long before these children who study them have even been born, they are kept alive by the fact that their stories are still in the minds of the people. Furthermore, why then are people like Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Arthur Conan Doyle, Socrates, Aristotle, Clive Staples Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien still heard from the mouths of many up to this moment? They have created things that are so beautiful, the epitome of excellence in literature and human thought that their works are considered as classics. Their books and other creations are legacies to their identity in such a way that these aforementioned people have achieved the immortality of human memory. The timeless quality of their works earned them the continuity of existence within the world, through the way people from generation to generation appreciate them and apply the message they convey in their lives. The most important point in the definition of immortality through human memory is the way we think, feel, and live in the belief that those who have died before us have never left us – they are still intact in our minds and hearts, living in the memories we made with them from the good to the bad times.

Secondly, I find the most profound definition of immortality in the everlasting existence of the soul. As a Christian, I believe that the soul is immortal in the sense that it leaves the body after death and goes on to the afterlife. This is supported by the existence of ghosts and spirits in our world. Even if we may not feel them, we know that they are there – these souls are those of those people who encounter a harsh death or linger in longing for their loved ones still living. This is the reason why we have a prayer for the souls, as we believe that our prayers helps them in their way to Heaven. Theologically, we believe in the soul because Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the souls. It is the soul, more than the body, which bears the cross and serves as the identifying aspect of the human person in Heaven and the afterlife. We know of the immortal soul from the very beginning of creation when the first chapter of Genesis describes how God created man in His own image and likeness, breathing the breath of life into man’s nostrils, thereby making man as a living soul. I believe that the Soul is the True Self of any human person, it cannot be felt through empirical means but to one who has enough faith, he recognizes this subtle essence within him, something that makes him feel that he is immortal yet living with a mortal body that can die at any time.

All in all, I believe that immortality is evident in human life – after death. Yes, it is uncannily ironic that I believe in immortality yet I suppose this state of being to take place after the death of the human person. This is because I acknowledge that it is impossible for any creature on Earth to achieve physical immortality. This glaring fact is supported by the inevitable certainty of death – we are all going to die, whether we are humans, animals, or plants. However, I also acknowledge the mystery of immortality in both memory and soul. It is as if long dead people are still alive by the way we constantly remember the memories we spent with them and see and experience their works. Their legacy keeps them alive in the minds of those who know them and to the future generations. Most importantly, I believe in the immortality of the soul because of my Christian faith, that Christ is the Redeemer of Souls from Death in Sin. I also consider my body as the Temple of the Soul, my True Self, the subtle essence of the reality of my mysterious existence.