Essay: Three Itemized Thoughts about the Immortal Soul -- by Thomas Herr.

I spend (not squander or waste) more and more of my time thinking about my soul, my spirit, now and in the future.  It's significance now remains unquestioned to me -- but what about the future, the next life (if any)?  These thoughts, musings, wonderings and worries about soul and immortality inevitably find themselves permeating into my recent works and poems.

So here's a short essay on the subject.

I've been going through a lot of my older notebooks and journals of handwritten slobbery lately, and I stumbled upon this passage this morning.  This interesting single page piece has lied in darkness since August 2, 2007.  Looking at it, I find it funny how I automatically itemize and list things -- whatever!  at least its still here!

I actually find the premises presented here comforting (I think).  These thoughts do not box out, nor box you in, to the idea of God.  It is merely an observation which  (I hope but honestly don't remember) came from my soul.

Whether you agree or disagree doesn't matter, but long after the fact, I love the radio metaphor.

Eternity and Immortality

1. Whereas the body is a compound thing which eventually falls apart, and disintegrates, the Soul is simple and is imperishable – Plato.

2. The Bible Old Testament does not mention an afterlife, the punishments and rewards take place in this life, not the next one.

3. We know that the mind depends on the physical brain, but that doesn’t mean that our brain processes actually produce our mental life, as opposed to merely transmitting it. Our brains allow our minds to filter through to this world from some transcendent “mother sea” of consciousness. Use the radio as a metaphor; when a radio is damaged the music becomes distorted. When it is smashed the music stops all together. All the while, however, the signal (our souls) are out there, uncorrupted.

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WAR IS OVER? I guess not...

John Lennon and Yoko Ono have been a part of my life ever since their Peace and Love campaigns began in 1969 during and shortly after the Beatles breakup. As a lifelong Beatles fan, I’ve treasured the memories, studied and researched the activities and social implications of both the Beatles legacy and that of their remarkable leader, John Lennon, and his wife, avant guard artist Yoko Ono.

Recently I attended a wonderful tribute to John (actually the work of Yoko Ono herself) at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex (in Soho, NYC go to www.rockannex.com) which was simultaneously educational, inspirational and entertaining.

Together, John and Yoko inspired a generation to aspire to a way of life free of greed, war, poverty and pain. Today, I often listen to and see the news out of Iraq, Afghanistan and the terror community and think back to John and Yoko's words of wisdom – “Give Peace a Chance”.

You can imagine (no pun intended) my surprise when I was reading Section 1 of the Sunday, December 27, 2009 edition of the New York Times and I stumbled upon a full page ad, in huge, bold black letters, stating that WAR IS OVER if you want it. With Love, from John and Yoko. What is this? Could this be?

Sick of the wars and news of death and mutilation from Iraq, and sick of hearing news about resurgence in Afghanistan, sick of the terror attacks on non-muslims throughout the world, sick of poverty here at home, sick of the economy, sick of investment banking schemes, I embraced this welcome injection of nostalgia and became enthusiastic.

The principle behind eNothing is to enable artists and poets to communicate and share their experiences thoughts and feelings with others, either through twitter, or the blog or even venues in New York City. My group of followers is filled with eclectic characters with a slightly warped point of view. Surely, I can help the cause for peace by giving my group a chance to comment, tweet and retweet the end of War!!! How exciting!!!

Immediately, I began by copying the page (visit Yoko’s Peace sight at www.imaginepeace.com) and tweeted it incessantly to all my followers urging them to Re Tweet and spread the word. WAR IS OVER! If you want it – I said, over and over and over again.

Well, nothing happened. Thousands of people saw the tweets. People who respond to POEM of the DAY, tweets about art, etc. on a regular basis…saw the tweets. No one re-tweeted or spread the word. Well, one guy responded with an “Amen to that” tweet or something. So I gave up.

For the time being.

Could it be that people don’t want the War to be over? Could it be that people feel we need the war? People are afraid of terrorism? What????!!!!!

Or, could it be that people just don’t have time, time to care and take a stand – don’t have the belief that they can change things, little by little, so why spend the time? Is that what this world has come to?