Live Together, Die Alone by Alex Stone

To truly understand Lost and its themes and ideas, we need to go as far back to the beginning as possible. When I say the beginning, I literally mean the beginning of time itself; to reference the name of Richard Alpert’s centric episode, “Ab Aeterno.”

When I say the beginning of time, what I mean is the beginning of the universe, the beginning of everything. Before there was everything, it stands to reason that there was nothing. This is the foundation of every dichotomous theme on Lost: Faith versus Science, Destiny versus Free Will, Good versus evil, Life and Death. It all boils down to Light versus Dark.

So, before everything, there was nothing. Why did everything come to be? Where did everything come from? This sets the stage for the most important parental relationship on Lost; the relationship between Man and God.

When I say “God,” I am not referring to any nominal religion or deity. I am not religious, and don’t ascribe to have a strong knowledge of theology. I’m working strictly within the framework of the show. Lost has referenced numerous religions during its six seasons and commits to none. This is because every single one is as valid as it is invalid. All of these religions are based on a single truth that Lost presents: “We all answer to someone.”

I will continue to refer to this entity as “God,” but I’m simply referring to the completely unknowable power of sheer creation. Human beings might recognize it as an almost limitless source of electromagnetic energy, but its significance is all the same. Everything came from it. It is the Source.

We can all agree that God created the light from the darkness. But, and this is essential, he did not replace the darkness. Without darkness, there can be no light. Without light, there is no darkness. They are equals. There is a balance, just as we see the black and white stones in balance in the cave we see all of Jacob’s candidates listed. The basis for everything that exists in this universe is that there is a harmony between opposing forces. This harmony is the true power of God. Balance is everything.

As I mentioned in the previous section, we are all children of God, as long as we recognize that God created all things. God created life, and in turn, he must have also created death. Again, there is a peace between these too concepts. It is only in conjunction that they have any true meaning. Death is the unfortunate consequence of the gift of life. It is a necessary evil.

But then you have to ask yourself, why? Why would God create life, just to extinguish it with as much power as he created it? The answer is Love. We as human beings are products of Love in our own lives. Ideally, our parents love each other, and that love extends down to us, so on and so on. God has given all of us this power to create, but we can’t do it alone. We need someone who needs us as much as we need them. Only then have we found the balance necessary to create from nothing.
That is not to say that Death doesn’t serve a vital function in God’s plan. As I said before, Life and Death are equal, and Death serves a function all of its own.

Plato wrote that “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” This same phrase was written in Greek on Jacob’s tapestry. I assure you that anything that exists on this show was put there for a reason, and this is an important one. God reasons that if humans cannot love each other, they are in turn not worthy of life, and will be saved through death. “If we can’t live together, than we’re going to die alone.”

Without love, we are all Lost.