Mortality

The ancients believed that immortality existed. There was a belief that immortals walked among us. Modern thought talks of immortality in terms of genetics. When we have a child that child carries at least a half of the parents genetic material. That genetic material continues through the parents lineage. In a sense by having children a parent becomes imortal. One would argue that our teachers are also, in a sense, immortal. The thoughts, ideas, and concepts of our best teachers are passed on to the teacher's students. The skilled teacher stands before the class and imprints his or her ideas and values upon his class. Great teachers such as Plato have their ideas and teachings passed on though generations and are also in an essence immortal.

What of those that are neither parent nor teacher. Shakespare said that "the evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft inturred with their bones." In Star Trek there was an evil entity that lived on through generations and this entity took over the human host and turned the host into murderers and tyrants. Star Trek postulated that this entity was both immortal and evil. Is pure evil immortal? For generations we will remember the horrors of Gacey, Manson, Hitler and Stalin. Will we retain the same strong memories of our teachers, coaches and professinal role models?

If we are not a great teacher, author, artist or a parent can the avaerage soul gain imortaltiy though his or her actions. Can we prove Shakespere wrong and find imortality though the way we live our life. Perhaps in our death there is a way to meaure how we be remembered. In our death we can identify who will remember our name, our achievements and our deeds. How extraordinary must we be to gain some form of recognition, some form of immortality?

Is there a link between the number of mourners at a funeral and the moral quality of the deceased. Do we earn the presence and respect of the mornors though our actions in life? The other day there was a funeral of a young child. This girl's life was snuffed out by a meaningless murder. The girl's portfolio consisted a life of a child's innocent play and forgetable interactions. How then do we interpret the fact that this child was memorialized by hundreds and recognized and mourned by thousands. Her immortaility came not from her achievments but from being a victim.