by Ethan Johnson
September 16, 2000

I recently drafted my very own "living will". It felt strange to be thinking of "end of life" issues at the tender age of 31, what with my average health and rumored long life expectancy (on good authority from many a palm reader, I assure you). Drafting this document not only covered my proverbial bases (God forbid) if any misfortune were to befall me, but also made me consider my beliefs about physical reality.

I believe in several metaphysical tenets, that of reincarnation, that of an "afterlife", and that of God, or even Gods plural, as the finite mind cannot fully grasp the infinite. I harkened back to a song I wrote several years ago called Belief, in which the following lines appear in the chorus:

Believe in me/'cause without belief/even God/ain't worth nothing
Without belief/even God/ain't no big thing

I remember voicing this sentiment to my Dad when I was writing this song. His face flashed an angered expression for a brief instant, and then he said plainly, "God doesn't need your belief to exist."

I have contemplated that sentence for many years, and have never discussed the subject with him since. I recently found an analogy that serves to explain what he meant, in my opinion.

Many times I have likened the internet as a metaphor for the concept of the living Universe. Both are seemingly infinite (though I suppose a fool would have greater luck quantifiying the internet than the universe itself), both have "light" and "dark" sides, both are sources of abundance.

Then I thought about what the internet actually is. How many computers does an "internet" make? By my math, 2. As long as the link between the two computers stays connected, and neither "crashes", the internet is ready for action. Turn one of the two machines off, or remove the network cable connecting them together, and the internet is no more.

However, the internet is vast, and certainly not comprised of only 2 computers. So when I connect my computer via my dialup internet connection, I "tune in" to the internet "wavelength". Better yet, my web site is dedicated to being a part of the internet 24/7/365. However, if and when this web site ceases to be, will it make a sizable dent in the internet by its absence? Obviously not.

Hence, if I choose to not "log on" to the internet and be a part of that wavelength, I am not causing the imminent demise of the internet. Equally so, removing my web site does not signal the imminent doom of the internet at large.

My computer is not the internet, in and of itself. Neither is yours. Neither are any of the workstations at Microsoft (disbelieve any dogma to the contrary). The connection between these computers is, however. Disconnect every single computer device from every possible network connection, and the internet is lost. Heck, a global power outage ultimately would "kill" the internet.

Thus, I have surmised that if the concept of "God" is just that, perhaps it can be said that the connection between everything focused in physical reality is where God shall be found. Stating one's disbelief in God in this scenario does not cause God to no longer be. A disbelief in the intangible does not disprove its existence.

After all, is the internet not etherial in and of itself? Can you get in your car and drive to the internet? Can you catch the next bus headed for the fabled Information Superhighway? Certainly not. And yet it exists, and we have ways of accessing the internet with equipment designed for that purpose.

We have the equipment to make connections with the world around us as well. We carry everything we need around with us everywhere we go. We don't need mobile phones and email, just our language and our thoughts. We don't need books to dictate how we should act and react in various situations, just our values, our collective experiences, and our hearts. We don't need fancy computers and thick network cables to touch people around us, just our compassion, our empathy, and our kindness.

In these things, I believe. <EM>