Life or Death

Garrett is torn. He has a crush on a girl in Philosophy class, but he also against her in a debate; a debate that could change his view on life forever.

           The sounds of crickets in various locations around the building made the eerie quiet of the night a little less so; however, it didn’t change the fact that it was eight o’clock at night and Garrett wasn’t sure why he had said yes to this in the first place.  His feet tapped to an imaginary beat on the sidewalk in front of his dorm room as he waited.  The sigh he let out of his lips caused them to vibrate; letting out a horse-like noise.  A girl.  That’s what this was all about really.  Sure, she had been the one he had been dying to talk to for the past month of Philosophy class, but now, he was wondering if his hormones were just clouding his common sense.

               “Okay, so we’re going to talk about a subject that is a matter of life and death,” Professor Matheson announced as he sat on the edge of his desk in front of the lecture hall.  “No, really.  We are going to talk about life and death.   I want us to take a week and answer this question"Is there life after death?  Or you can think of the question like this"why life if there is only death to look forward, too?” See the world is made up of so many beliefs on death so that we can justify why and how we should live.  Anyone care to share some of them?”
                “Reincarnation,” a student called out. 
                “Yes,” the Professor pointed out.  “Many Eastern religions adopted this hope of a life that doesn’t end, but is somehow either recycled or elevated on a different plane spiritually and physically.  What else?”
                 “Some religions believe in a type of heaven,” another student called out.  “or afterlife.”
                 “Right, and while many believe that there is not life after death, a majority believe that there is something after death; that we don’t simply just fade into blackness.”   Professor Matheson stood up and started to walk to the giant chalkboard spanning almost seventy-five percent of the wall.  “So, why life if there is an afterlife?”
                  “There was never meant to be an after-life?”  Garrett stretched his neck to see Fallon respond.  While he had been drooling over her since he bumped into her on the first day of class, there were nearly a hundred in the lecture class, and he had never heard her say anything aloud.  Matheson pointed to her.
                  “Curious response.  Explain.” Fallon sat up in her seat.
                  “We assume that there has always been a ‘death’.  If we are created by a higher being, and for namesake let’s call it God, then we have to question why God would create us to live in order for us to wait so we could go to another life.”
                  “And what is your proposal, Miss Saunders?”
                  “God created us for only one life in full relationship with Him, but because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, mankind allowed for something else to come between us and God.  Sin equals death because it is the adverse of God who not only created life, but is Life.”
             Some murmurs came from students in the hall, and Garrett couldn’t believe Fallon’s words.  How could someone so beautiful and intelligent believe something so idiotic?
              “What was that?” Matheson stood at the front of class looking directly at him.  Garrett looked around and noticed that everyone was looking at him.  
              “I"what?”
              “You said 'how could someone so beautiful and intelligent believe in something so idiotic?'” Crap! He had said that aloud?  “Care to share your thoughts?”
              “Well,”  Garrett knew that he had to say something.  He didn’t want to look at Fallon.  “I think that if God was truly God then sin wouldn’t be an issue for him.  He wouldn’t blame everything on it and take responsibility for the fact that there is death. If there is a God; either he isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be or he is just toying around with us all choosing when he wants us to live and die.”  Matheson smiled, and it was obvious that he was enjoying the forming debate.  He glanced at Fallon, and she spoke up.
                “Sin isn’t an issue with God, it is the issue with God.  God, being God, is perfect. A sin is by definition is imperfection.  How can we expect imperfection and perfection to coincide? We can’t.  That’s why we wouldn’t have a child molester babysit our children.” 
                “So, if I’m correct, didn’t God give us a choice?  Didn’t he create us with the ability to choose?” Garrett said in defense; this time looking directly at the girl several rows in front of him.  “If I’m Adam, and God dangles an apple in front of me and says not to eat it, I’m going to be curious.  Again, we get the blame for him tempting us.  God set us up to fail. Why would he put something bad in our path?” 
               “Who said the apple was bad?” Fallon smirked; which frustrated Garrett.
               “And that’s a perfect place to stop for today,” Matheson held up his hand.  “We can resume here on Monday, but here’s your homework.   I want you to pick a side"either Miss Saunders is right about God creating us for life in perfect harmony with him; or Mr. McDonald is right, and God set us up to fail and put the blame on us.   Choose a side, and I want a thousand words on why you chose which side emailed to me by class Monday. Yes, I will know if anyone sends it late.”
            Garrett grabbed his bag and shoved his books in it.  When he looked up; however, he was greeted by a beautiful, smiling Fallon.  She moved a stray strand of her dirty blonde hair out of her face and adjust the shoulder strap to her bag.
            “Figured I should introduce myself to you if we’re going to be debating against each other,” she waited for him to stand up and then stuck out her hand.  There were mixed feelings running through Garrett’s mind as he shook her hand.  She gave him goosebumps, but she also seemed to be one of the religiously religious that he usually tried to stay away from.
            “Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. 
           “You’re okay.  You didn’t offend me at all. I mean, I did open my mouth first.”  Fallon turned to walk away.  “Maybe we could talk some more?”  They walked out of the row and down the stairs.  Garrett hadn’t caught her last statement fully, and she turned her head back to him as if waiting for a response.
            “Oh!  Um--yeah.  I’d love that--I mean,” Garrett paused.  “Yeah, that would be cool.”  Fallon smiled.
           “Well, what are you doing tonight? Let’s say--around eight?”  Garrett nodded.  This was really happening.  He was going on a date with Fallon?  Wait, she didn’t say it was a date.  Should he ask?  They stepped into the hallway. “Well, I have another class to get to.  We can meet outside Hampton Hall.”
          “Sounds great.  My dorm is on the back side of Hampton.”  She nodded.
          “Perfect. Oh, and,” she said as she turned to go down the hall, “thanks for saying that I’m intelligent and beautiful.”

            Now, eight had come, and Garret had stood outside on the steps of Hampton Hall dressed somewhat casual.  He wasn’t sure what they were going to do, but he didn’t care.  He was going to spend time with a beautiful girl who, although they were in a somewhat heated debate, still wanted to hang out.  He saw her from a distance walking up the sidewalk wearing a brown sweater with jeans and boots.  Her smile instantly appeared as she made eyes contact with him. 
           “Dressed warm enough?  Cause we’re going to be outside?” 
          “Yeah, it’s not that cold tonight,” Garrett said bouncing up and down on his feet.  “Somehow I pictured you being an outdoorsy girl. Glad I was right.”
         “Oh, really,” she raised an eyebrow.  “And have you pictured me a lot?” Garrett felt his face turn red.
         “I"I’m not sure how to answer that question.”  She grabbed his arm.
        “Sorry,” she said.  “Don’t feel uncomfortable around me.  Come on, I have something to show you.”  They walked for several moments making small talk and asking each other the basic get-to-know-you questions.   They both loved the color green and dogs.  Both of them were only children, although, she had a step-sister that she had never met and who didn’t want to meet Fallon at all.  Fallon grew up in Arizona and was an all-conference volleyball player.   She wanted to work in government aid relief.
          “Not perfect at all though.  I almost failed out my junior year because I partied too much and didn’t take school seriously,” she laughed.  “I spent my senior year on my parent’s version of academic probation.  My social life was non-existent.  I played volleyball, went to school, and went to church"that was it.”
         “Sounds like a rough year.”
         “It wasn’t as bad as I thought, and"I actually got to know more about God.”  She glanced at Garrett.  “He isn’t who you think He is?”
         They had been walking for the better part of a half an hour, and had exited the campus.  A majority of the surrounding town was suburban, and aside from going on a few shopping trips, Garrett hadn’t explored much of the area.   There was a bridge that crossed over a river not too far outside of the campus, and he quickly realized that this was their destination.  Curiously, he followed Fallon as she walked down the side of the bridge on the embankment and disappeared underneath it.  
          “Oh, wow,” he laughed as he stared at the dozen canoes and kayaks hooked up underneath the bridge.
          “Yeah, some people chain up their bikes or have bike racks.  “We have canoe and kayak racks here.”  She unlocked a black canoe, and Garrett helped her carry it to the river and then went back for the oars.
          “Is this yours?”
           “No, my roommates.”  She smiled.  “You ready?”   This wasn’t what Garrett had been expecting, but he was excited none the less.  He hadn’t been canoeing since he was in middle school, but once they had shoved off with a little shake start, he settled in the boat. 
          “This is cool,” he said as his paddle sunk into the water. 
          “I like to get out in nature to get perspective on life.  Back to where it all began.”   Garrett knew she was setting out bait for him, but he bit anyway.
          “What do you mean back to where it all began?”
          “Life.  You believe in God, Garrett?”  He nodded. “But you believe that He set us up for failure?”
          “He placed the tree with the apple in the garden, right?”
          “Yes, but he never said the tree or the apple were bad. It just wasn’t meant for us.”  She pointed to the sky.  “I look at the stars and the moon, and I listen to the night life, and I can imagine just a little of what Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden.  I mean, we can’t really comprehend what a place with utter perfection is like.  In the Bible, it says that, God called everything good.  Everything.   If a perfect God can call everything good, then it must be.  Everything includes the tree and the fruit.”
            “But why create it?  If Adam and Eve aren’t allowed to eat it, why create it?”
            “Because good and evil are a part of life, but also so that we could choose to know God a.k.a. Life instead of making the choice to know it on our own.  The tree wasn’t bad, the choice that was made was bad. It wasn’t a set up. It was a gift because if we could choose to obey Him, we could choose a relationship with Him.”
             “You said we were never meant for death; that we were created for life.  Not an afterlife, but just life. How do you figure?”
            “Because we’ve sinned"because we chose death"we are dead unless we accept the life that we should have chosen in the first place, which is God.   Things haven’t changed in that respect.” She placed her paddle across the boat.  “Think of it like this.  I offer you some vitamins to take every day, and I tell you that they will keep you healthy.  You choose not to take them.  You soon find yourself sick.  Well, I need to offer you something more than just vitamins now.  I need to give you medicine.  The object is still the same"to have you healthy, but now, the method has to change.”
            Garrett was impressed with her confidence in her beliefs. He had to confess that she was really getting him to think, but there were still a couple of questions left unanswered.  The river opened up and the moonlight completely lit up the wider expanse.  They both stopped paddling and took in everything.
           “This is what I wanted to show you,” Fallon said.  “God created this.  The same God that created you and me.  To take the time to do all of this and more, do you really think that His plan for us is death?”

 

To be continued………

Author's Note

possibly the start of a series....