LIM 7

¹The universe is a mountain, standing strong. ²And the mountain is here today, with its impressive peaks and cliffs, and it will be here tomorrow, too, but never quite the same, as the rocks and dirt slip and tumble down its beautiful face. ³But so too does the mountain itself erode and crumble over time. ⁴For time can only move forward, and never backward, but it is not malicious, it can only ever be constant. ⁵And one day the mountain will be gone, leaving nothing but dust in the wind, but it will make no difference, because death was always there, and death never changes. ⁶But this is the nature of the universe, the constant pull of death fighting against the vigor of life. ⁷And life is an intermediate state, a glimmer of hope arising from the landslides. ⁸But as grand as life is, it cannot exist without death. ⁹So even though life can never defeat death in the end, as long as you are here, this is not the end. ¹⁰And maybe humanity is just a small part of a single landslide, alive briefly in the vastness of the cliffs. ¹¹But you are here, today, and you are in this universe. ¹²A remarkable piece of structure in the void, delicately balanced somewhere between life and death. ¹³But to be alive is a gift. ¹⁴A gift so beautiful and profound that it is hard to see, at times, because to be alive is not a choice, it can only ever be a gift. ¹⁵And to fight against death is not easy, but you must fight. ¹⁶For death never changes, but you do. ¹⁷But that does not mean that there is not freedom in this universe. ¹⁸Because as long as you are here, there is truth. ¹⁹And as long as there is truth there can be hope. ²⁰And as long as there is hope there will be faith. ²¹In the life and the death and the dust. ²²Dust and stardust. ²³The light and the darkness. ²⁴In the wind and the heat. ²⁵But you are strong, in faith and in love.