Time, Space, and things immaterial

A lot of people believe there is a physical world, and a spiritual world, and that while these influence each other in mysterious ways, they are two distinct things. I will not make any attempt at this time to say that this is so or not so. This is more about the consequences of such a metaphysical view.

Because of the completely metaphysical nature of this discussion, I'll get this out of the way right off the bat:

Crackpot Theory Time!

Time and Space are only relevant in the physical world.

The world of physical things includes time and space. These are inextricably linked. There simply is no time without space and matter. These are all aspects of the physical universe, and anything outside that universe, like, say, God, is not subject to them. It's important to note that I include time in this. Yes, time. A psychic who insists you have had past lives may or may not be on to something, but why only past lives? Time is an aspect of the physical universe, and theoretically at least, your soul is not. So why not future lives too? Why not simultaneous lives? Or, take it a step further, why not every life that has ever, or will be lived, all at the same time?

We are all one and the same

Quite a lot of people believe that we are all tiny bits of God's being. Just one soul. Ours. All of ours. Not just people you like, either. Every crazy mass murderer, every genocidal dictator, every corrupt politician, every good intentioned but annoying busybody, yup, all one soul. Sorta makes you squirm, eh? Admittedly, this is a bit more conjectural than my usual crackpot ideas, but it's a fun thing to consider, and it ties in with the next bit.

Speaking of God...

It's really easy for people to ascribe human emotions and motivations to some fatherly Zeus-like creator of the universe. But something omniscient and omnipotent probably would not experience things like jealousy, rage, anxiety, or really much of anything that a fire-and-brimstone sermon might contain. Going a bit further, the mind of an omniscient and omnipotent entity contains in a very real sense the physical universe. There's really no difference. Nor is there any distinction between our minds and bits of this larger one that, by definition, includes everything. Once again, we are all parts of one thing.

The cool part about these ideas

Now, I'm not much on religious dogma. Even if I made it up. So my crackpot ideas about souls and the universe are really just fun ideas... but... I kinda like the idea of a world in which empathy and compassion just make sense.