"If there were no death, there would be no rebirth," the German artist Anselm Keifer once said.  Quite.  Keifer's observation recognizes the embedded rhythms of the universe.  Throughout the breadth and depth of the cosmos, nothing, be it a star, lion, or human being, can be born without someone or something, somewhere and somehow, experiencing death, of some kind.

    For anyone familiar with the second law of thermodynamics, which tells us that the total amount of matter and energy in the universe is constant, and that therefore when energy is lost, matter gains, and vice versa, this may not be a big surprise. On the other hand, the immutable factuality of this law simply affirms Keifer's point:  unless we live in a completely static universe (and what kind of a cosmos would that be?), we will confront, every moment of every day, this cycle of death, in some fashion, and, in some similar fashion, rebirth.

    Is some process of resurrection therefore imprinted into the fabric of the cosmos?  Absolutely.  Resurrection between matter and energy, however, is one thing; resurrection into an totally new life is quite another.

    Therein is the greatest mystery of all.  One in which, however, we all can rejoice. There really is, as one commentator once said, "Life after life after death."  Absent this, it's a pretty empty world.