The Beginning

In the beginning the heavens and the earth were created.

Have you ever wondered, "Where did I come from?" or "Why am I here?" In all of the great expanse of the universe and everything that was created, how did I end up where I did, with all the accompanying interactions and experiences that I now have to face? While I was growing up in a small town in New Mexico, questions like these occupied the greater part of my free time. I loved to go out at night and see the beautiful, wide New Mexican sky filled with lights and cosmos. I learned later that each of those lights is in reality many times the size of our sun, but they are just farther away from us than the massive ball of fire that heats our planet, that gives light and energy to almost everything here on earth. I learned that the stars have existed for eons, and I felt like nothing in comparison to the wide expanse of eternity and forever.

I once asked my father, Elian, "What does it mean to live?" My father sought to teach my family as much as he could with respect to the world, and it was our habit of having profound discussions following our evening meal. When I asked father about life, he shared with me his beliefs, saying, "I am not sure where we began or why we are here, but it seems to me that life comes through light. Without light, we cannot live. The sun gives light to plants, which grow and feed animals and give us food. In a way, we are made from the light the sun gives."

"So life comes through light?" I asked him to confirm his beliefs.

"Yes," he replied, "but not only the life you have now. After you die, you will continue to live through the light that you gave and that continues to exist in the ones that loved you."

What I learned in that quick lesson set a course for my life to let my light shine before men, to love others and help them find the light that I had found. However, it was not only the idea of light that influenced me, but also the statement of belief: "You will continue to live through the ones that loved you."

Suddenly, life made more sense, but the question remained: who am I in all of this? And what is my purpose in a small, rural city in New Mexico? Is the whole of my life to work on my parents' farm until I die? What is the purpose of my being here, now? When I die, is that the end of my existence, or does the "light" carry who I am? In a way, that conversation brought more questions to my mind and gave me an unquenchable thirst to find the truth.

I'm here to tell you that I now know who I am, and it is that knowledge that will bring peace to the world and unite nations that were once sworn enemies. Of myself, I am nothing. But this is knowledge that is bound to sweep all nations and sound in every ear.