One life
by Rev. Rachel Marvin-Borger
I believe that Star Trek’s “Mirror Mirror” was my first exposure to the tantalizing concept of a parallel universe, an alternate timeline. Who else might I be? What else might I have become? Is there another me out there? What connection, if any, exists between myself and potential other versions of me? Am I a good person because of something inherently good in me, or could I be a fundamentally different person in another setting, another environment?
Marvel's What If…? series portrays newly imagined realities in the Marvel universe based upon a single and significant change of events. Even seemingly minor choices can completely change the trajectory of events. How might the course of human history be affected by our minute and miniscule choices and actions? Every moment really depends on the ones that precede it.
The concept of the multiverse is exciting, expansive, and difficult to wrap one's head around. The idea of infinite realities with iteration after iteration of the same universe except for one slight variation.
Sometimes, while doing something entirely mundane, the thought comes unbidden to my mind: What if? What if there's a universe where I selected a fork to eat my casserole instead of a spoon? What if there's a universe where I’m left handed-- and that was the only significant difference between that me and the me that I inhabit now? Is there another universe in which I am aware of the other universes in some way? How might my life be different if I was left handed or if I had knowledge of other worlds? Would I be a fundamentally different person on a fundamentally different path?
And is it possible for there to really exist universes that only had one small difference? A world where I am right handed and a world where I am left handed? Surely that difference would have wide-reaching impacts.
What we are able to conclude right now is that only this one universe is in our direct, known influence. The existence of endless parallel universes is beyond our power to grasp-- whatever reaction the concept stirs within our imagination. The only known (sorta proven) reality that we exist in and operate in is this one. For the briefest of moments, we have this precious and fleeting life. To direct. To steward. To delight in. It is not infinite, it is not boundless, it does not contain endless possibilities.
We have one life to live. One lifetime to make the most of. One chance to give our attention to the things that matter.
One life to be surrendered to God. One life in which to be faithful moment by moment. Unknowing how events will unfold.
As poet Mary Oliver so poignantly asks, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
