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I had a celestial trust in my mother, especially when it came to how special I was.
She didn't just mean it in the spirit of parental encouragement that was intended to foster self-confidence, she did that of course, but what she meant for me to believe is; I was luckier than others.
I was lucky because of simple math: I am 1 of 8 Billion earthly inhabitants. I am 1 of 300 Million lucky to be born in America - of which - 5 Million are lucky enough to be Mormon. What luck.
I wasn't lucky because of the rabbit foot, the four leaf clover or for the metaphorical lamb's blood that had permanently been painted on our door by being believers. No, I was special because in the life before this one, I earned my birthright by choosing the right. I was born with all of God's truth and so when I die, unlike most of you - mathematically speaking - I will live again, eternally, in a neverending state of celestial bliss. Suck it Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and Atheists!
Years later the celestial promise of heaven would crumble with my belief and so swapping roles, eldest for prodigal, I wandered, I wondered and for the first time in my life, I was lost. Why did the sunset & rise, if not for me? For us? His children.
Amidst my wondering and wandering, it was simple math that brought back to me the smarting pink of the setting sun and the angelic yellow of its rise. I am 1 of 8 Billion people that live, I live on a pale blue dot - supporting life - while hurling through the infinities of space! I am the result of a singularity. The likelihood of life is infinitesimal and I am alive.
And so should God or the evolutionists be right, it no longer matters, for I found the purpose of life is not to live for the morrow or to gain an extra life wherein all things earned await our arrival.
The purpose of life is to bask, to bask in the ethereal glow of the now. To pause, to pay attention to and find gratitude in the special circumstance of your speciation. You and I are alive! What could be more beautiful than that?! You and I are here and that is why we are lucky!
- Brooks Forester
Photo Series By Taylor Pendelton @taydooo