Posted by john on November 05, 2002 at 07:38:30:
In Reply to: Animal spirits - for Bill posted by giveawayboy on November 05, 2002 at 02:43:03:
I especially noted the point about nothing being lost. This reminds me of the conservation of matter, the fact that it is never created or destroyed, only changing state. I can't prove anything scientifically, but I have long suspected that the same natural laws that apply to the observable world also apply (or at least in similar fashion) to the invisible aspects of our world.
Historically we have viewed "spirit" as something pseudo-real and science has not tried to study it, but now with advances in quantum physics and microbiology we are beginning to be able to record and observe spiritual actions, or the results of these actions.
Of course this only makes sense, since the same originator of the natural world also originates the spiritual, and He is a God of order. What seems like chaos to us, or as unobservable, probably speaks more to our limitations than to the actual properties of the object. And if Truth exists it cannot disagree, by definition.
This is interesting to think about. The Gaia hypothesis wades into this area. And in the realm of science-fiction, "Final Fantasy: The Spritis Within", the recent CG movie, works from this perspective as well.
: : Dearest Bill,
: : In response to your question about animal spirits returning to God, I have written a short essay for you. :-)
: Thanks Steve, this is great!
: I wanted to comment on this part:
: First notice that God takes away ruach, and sends ruach. It doesn’t say he destroys ruach; he takes it. It doesn’t say he creates ruach; he sends it. We will see this terminology in another scripture later, speaking of both “taking back” and “gathering to himself.”
: This is also consistent with native American teachings about life coming from and returning to the Creator. I'll have much more to say on this, but even more than this, I'll be able to share this inofrmation w my friend Dale who's chihuahua, Aria Allegra, passed over on the eve of Samhain. He is going through the normal grieving and I think has his head on his shoulders. You can pray for Aria Allegra and for Dale.
: Thanks, Bill