The whole idea that God existed before anything else (he is outside of and indeed the creator of space, time, energy and matter) and that he has always existed (there is no "before God") and will always exist is difficult enough for humans to understand. Closely related to this reality about God is the difficulty in understanding how exactly God is the Creator and also how he is always in control. I've thought of a simple typical experience that everyone has seen, which can help to understand by putting one in the right mindset.
Think back to a time when you have opened the window on a warm day, and a breeze blows into the window, stirring and moving the curtains. Well, the first step to understanding God is realizing that God is not standing there waving the curtains back and forth for you.
LOL! I know you are saying, well, I never thought that he was! Yes, but the misdirected human understanding of God is not too far from thinking that. The idea that "everything" has a message (from God or "someone else," like a deceased loved one or a "spirit") is only one step away from thinking that God is standing there and it is his "control" that makes the curtains move back and forth in the breeze.
Why is there this confusion? People get confused with three aspects of God's power: 1) his being the Creator 2) his being "in control" and 3) everything that happens is "God's will." This is why I realized this simple analogy will help you to understand each of these three aspects of God's power.
God created the universe, including everything in it, such as the sun which provides the warm day, the earth and the humans upon it, the weather, and thus the wind that moves the curtains. During God's creation God maintains total control over all that is created, and being All Knowing, God perfects his creation so that it continues to develop and function the way he intended. Thus God is in control because he shaped the material of his creation so that it has natural law and forces that support ongoing existence (such as atomic structures, the movement of light, the existence of mass and gravity, the effects of rotation and so forth). This is why the curtains move and God does not have to stand there and invisibly make them flap back and forth for you, ha. The curtains move because God created the materials and the forces (nature laws) of the structure of the universe and then he let them go. It's not like God has to "try it out," because remember, he is All Knowing. When God declared in the Bible that his creation is "good," that is what he meant, that he created all that the universe (and life within it) needed for it to now run on its own.
So when you heat a pot of water over an open fire, God is not having to rub the water molecules together for you so that the water becomes warm and then hot, any more than God is having to combust each of the molecules of the wood so that it would burn. Water heats over a flame because God created the infrastructure and the natural forces that would be "good," as in effective and self sustaining. Another example, gravity works not because God has to put his hand over each object and person and hold them down onto the earth, ha.
Back to our example, God created and controls the waving of the curtain in the breeze because God created time, matter and energy, and thus the forces that align and motivate them in predictable behavior of physics and science. So God created the "raw materials" for the waving of the curtain (the sun, the earth, fibers and wood, people smart enough to build houses with windows and curtains, weather including the development of wind when the temperature and pressure gradients are right, etc). When we say that God is in control, what we should mean is that everything he put into place is functioning authentically and predictably, just as it should. I've written about this before in the blog but just to remind you, an unforeseen and tragic automobile accident where there is a loss of life is in God's control not because God reaches out and pushes one car into another, but because God created a universe where if two heavy objects collide the materials within react according to physics in a predictable way.
Now that you understand, at least on a gut level, through these simple examples, how God 1) creates and 2) controls (to put it simply, he creates the raw materials and the "rules" by which creation continues onward and interacts within itself) you can better understand the levels at which something is God's will. Let's start with returning to the open window with the warm breeze that waves the curtains.
It was God's will that he decided to create a universe in the first place. It is God's will that he created in the way that he did, that it is stable and consistent, but with growth, change and movement. It is God's will that living beings will find what they need to sustain life (such as light, warmth and air). It is God's will that some beings, humans mostly but some animals too, are smart enough to shape their own dwellings. It is God's will that humans benefit from wise decisions (seeking shelter in their dwellings when weather is harsh), but it is also God's will that the power of bad weather, for example, does not suddenly halt and become benign whenever someone makes a bad decision (such as taking a boat out into the stormy seas, and remember, Jesus had to miraculously intervene when the Apostles were set upon by a storm at sea). So it is God's will that all in all, he very very VERY rarely upends and overturns the laws by which the universe of time, energy and matter operates in order to miraculously sustain someone in a bad situation, of their making or not (such as a natural disaster). It is further God's will that humans (and animals) feel pleasure, including aesthetics, in life. Thus it is God's will that the warm breeze feels good, the sun uplifts one's spirit, and the waving of the curtain in the breeze feels homey and aesthetically pleasing. Likewise, if one misjudges and makes an error (such as putting a fragile vase in front of an open window with a strong breeze, and it is knocked down), it is God's will that oops, natural forces continue to work as expected. God neither knocks down the vase nor "makes you feel bad," but that is the natural outcome of the small actions in life as time, energy, matter and human free choice interact.
So when someone devout says, usually after a sad event or loss, that it is "God's will," that is actually not a simplistic observation. It is, rather, the wise summation of the creative, by God, the controlling, by God, and free choice, by humans or by happenstance, outcome for all of the above to exist at all as a result of God's will. Yes, then, when a person dies, his or her "time had come" and it is "God's will," but the slippery slope is that one must not imagine that God is pushing some baby into a swimming pool, or cramming one car into another, or "giving" a person cancer, etc. God created all those materials, energies and potentialities (according to free choice and situations) and it is his will that with very rare exceptions, the rewards or the consequences naturally result. What do I mean by potentialities? Well, I blogged about one example before, which is being around potentially cancer causing smoke. It's not like God has to, nor is it in his nature, to reach inside someone and "give" them "cancer." Further, God does not make a person crave smoking cigarettes. All those potentialities are a matter of chemistry, physics, human genetics and human free choice. It is God's will that life has limitations and dangers, but it is also God's will that humans can seek ways to maximize the benefits of well being. Water is great, and swimming is great, but lack of a fence and a watchful parent over a baby near water is unwise. Likewise tobacco might be pleasurable to smoke in a cigarette but the problem develops when it is done to excess and becomes a habit that stimulates potential cancer in one's self or second hand in others.
So when a person mourns that the loss of a loved one is "God's will," that person is being pious and correct if they realize, as most have done so before these past few generations, that the life that one is given is unpredictable, that life is robust and forgiving while at the same time fragile and subject to defect, and that it is indeed the person's "time" because God will not intervene (except in those rare miraculous circumstances) when the known factors of a person's potential demise intersect. An example of an intersection is 1) smoking to excess 2) being of weak health or prone to easy damage 3) unable or unwilling to receive treatment. God does not 1) make the person smoke to excess 2) "give" him or her bad genes or 3) deprive them of treatment or give them a negative and bad attitude about available treatment. You see what I mean?
Moderns have become, for reasons I've discussed before 1) paranoid 2) narcissistic 3) excessively "magical" thinking and 4) disbelieving in the ultimate goodness of God and God alone. Thus there has been (and I pray that this is changing) an increasing obsession that somehow long life and wonderfulness has been guaranteed to everyone (and some of that is the "deeds" over grace error of thought) and that when an intersection of natural law and situations/human choices occurs that God (or "alien" or "other" forces) have "singled out" a person or group for hardship. That's not only wrong but it's dangerous because one then discards not only authentic belief in God but one also discards common sense and proper survival instincts and thinking.
Imagine if someone actually thought that when he opened the window and the sun shone and the breeze blew and the curtains waved that God was just standing there, waving that big peacock feather fan at him, turning on the tanning lamp and just giving him his own personal spa treatment. You'd think that person was crazy, right? Well, as I said, unfortunately many people have gotten on that slippery slope as they should have known better and worse, raised their children or taught their students that entire warped mindset. Thus many young people are paranoid and narcissistic because they feel so manipulated and at the behest of an arbitrary world filled with "unfairness" and "forces" that must be appeased/controlled! By the way, when I say "unfairness" I mean "not fair" by some human standard; I don't mean unjust because then I'd be in total agreement: the world is filled with human injustice and unrighteousness. But the word "fair" in popular thought (separate from political or legal thought) has come to mean that one's life seems disproportionate to one's expectations, and thus subject to some mysterious dispensation of favor or punishment. That kind of thinking results in attitudes such as, just for an easy example, that the life providing process by which a human body makes and stores fat is somehow bad and must be tamed. Um, no one would be alive if the body could not make and store fat, duh. But this paranoid separation from reality (both faith reality and secular reality) results in some messed up thinking.
I yearn for the time when people understood this, as they all did, prior to the last fifty years or so (with a few lunatic exceptions, of course, none of whom I need to name here).
Anyway, rather than get into that whole mess (again) in discussion, I'd rather leave you with this hopefully helpful simple analogy for understanding how God does indeed create, control and exert his will.
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday, August 24, 2009
Dealing with feelings of "unreality," "alienation"
Everyone has that occasional moment of feeling somewhat unreal. To put it simply, it is normal because it is like a brain "hiccup." You usually are not aware of what brought that moment on, but usually there was some outside stimulus that is unconscious to you. Like the feeling of deja vu, it is a burp, just a bit of a disruption in how the brain perceives what is actually going on, and it just lasts for a minute.
Deja vu (the "I've been here before") feeling, by the way, is also easily explained. Let me address that because when it happens some people get all paranoid about its "meaning." Rather than a "burp" or a "hiccup" like unreal or alienated feelings, deja vu is a momentary case of misidentification by the brain. You know how you get a glimpse of someone in a crowd and think you know who it is, but then realize it is not he or she? Well, the reason humans have such superior intellect and brain capacity (compared to animals) is that human brains are built for speed, to do very rapid processing, and brains are wired to do very rapid "pattern matching." Thus one can see an automobile and not each and every time go, "Hmm, what is that object? It has wheels and an ignition and a passenger cab. Ah, it must be a car!" Imagine if you had to think all that through every time you saw an auto! Instead, your brain rapidly "pattern matches." Your brain has pictures stored within it of things you already know, and when you see something it quickly compares what you are seeing to what it has in storage. When it sees a match it assumes, but tells you with certainty, that it is what it is. Deja vu happens when something that you see, or are feeling, or experiencing matches very closely, but incorrectly, something in your brain's picture gallery and memory bank. So you have a "deja vu" feeling that you have been there before, but that is because your brain jumped to a conclusion of familiarity because it found a weak match with a portion of something you have already seen before, or felt, but would not at all think they are alike if someone asked you. Your brain-all brains-once in a while make mistakes. So that's the deja vu problem. Let's get back to the main topic of feelings of unreality or alienation.
Before I explain how the "burp" or "hiccup" occurs, let's start with a clean table of understanding how things work normally when one is a living being, in a state of being alive within a real world. As I've mentioned in my recent blog about addictions, you gain a lot of information and solid grounding in wisdom when you remember that humans and animals share common biology. Animals and humans both have to breathe, eat, ingest fluids, have bodies that are composed of hard and soft tissue, internal organs, a way to reproduce, a way to move and so forth. Humans are basically animals with really big brains and a body that promote agility. (By that I mean, imagine a really smart dinosaur; even if he was really smart, without clever little fingers etc I doubt he could ever build a computer microchip! :-)
So you have to observe animals to understand humans, yourself, since it is like looking in a mirror. Do animals ever doubt their reality? No, they do not; they never doubt their reality. Ha, I can hear you saying, "You can't prove that!" Yes I can. Time for that time honored but forgotten and abused talent called logic and reasoning.
If a living being doubts their reality, this causes confusion in their state of being, obviously, since the person, for that moment, is not even sure if he or she "is real" or is "really part of this world." When one has that "burp," one usually stops what one is doing and mulls it over. The normal response is to realize that while creepy and unpleasant, it is just a burp and move on. The goofy and all too common response is to get whack job cultish, and get together with other paranoid people and worry "what if we are all really movies being shown on a projector," or "what if I'm imagining this," or "I must be remembering a 'past life' or a 'spirit being'" blah blah blah. It's like if you burped or hiccup you run out to find other people to see if they ever burp or hiccup, and when you find out they do, you go "Ah ha! Gosh! I knew it meant something." Then instead of researching how the lungs work and why burps happen you assume that little invisible aliens must be squeezing you with their cute webbed hands, "trying to get your attention." Ah, if only I was really joking, but sadly I am not.
So if animals had feelings of unreality, how would they cope with the sudden and harsh reality of life in nature, which, as we know, "is red in tooth and claw?" OK, now you are watching a nature show, such as one that shows African wildlife. You know that a scene of a lion stalking prey, such as a small wildebeest, is de rigour for such shows. How many times do you see the following?
Scene one: Lion sneaks up on potential prey, a grazing wildebeest.
Scene two: Lion makes a noise and gives away its presence, or it makes its move and leaps and runs toward the wildebeest. Either way the wildebeest is now aware of the lion.
Scene three: The wildebeest has a moment of "alienation" and "unreality," and wonders if it is real and/or if the lion is real (even though it is smelling, hearing and seeing lion with big teeth and claws in a dead run at it).
You don't have to "know" what an animal is "really" "thinking," because with animals all you need to do is observe what they do. Modern humans (not even traditional humans) are the only ones who think the obvious over and wonder about it. Why is this? Because it is what we call a "survival trait" not to think things over, but to quickly act to preserve life, while it is an anti-survival trait to think about whether or not the lion is real that is bearing down upon you and about to rip you apart. What human stands in the middle of a road and wonders if the bus that is about to run him or her over is "real," or if he or she is "really there." The answer is usually, "No one except the mentally ill or someone ingesting or abusing a substance." Mental illness, substance abuse, and some of the effects of a highly unreal media diet are the primary reasons for chronic, over analyzed and misunderstood feelings of "alienation" or "being unreal."
There is no species of animal that would last for the hundreds of thousands (and often tens of millions) of years that they have lasted as a species if any or all of them had "feelings of alienation and unreality." Any species that had such feelings would quickly die out if they were at all prevalent. First of all, animals have nothing to compare reality to in the first place, since animals have no conception of unreality. Animals do not understand that something is "made up" and thus "not real." Animals are entirely rooted in reality. But just so you understand, let's suppose that one wildebeest with too big a brain or who watched too much TV did have a feeling of "unreality" or "alienation." So he wonders if that lion that is leaping upon him is "real," or if he is "real." Yeppers, you guessed it. That wildebeest would become lunch for the lion and would never pass his overly clever but stupid genes onto future wildebeests. Any anti-survival trait is stomped on by the reality of nature, whether individually or as a species. Once an animal does anything that is not one hundred percent in response to reality, it is a goner and so are its potential offspring. So we can see from thousands of years of intelligent observation of animals by humans that animals are entirely reality based. Thus the cure, the detox, for people who have persistent self induced feelings of unreality are to reconnect with reality and get over yourself.
Why do I say "get over yourself?" Because almost always, unless the person is truly mentally ill, they have a grandiose feeling of having stumbled onto some great hidden "truth" when they have these "mysterious" "feelings." The answer, of course, is to let the moment of the brain burp or hiccup pass and simply reconnect with reality. People do try to self heal, and so the instinct to reconnect with reality is there, even in the nuttiest of people who deliberately cultivate their moments like this (again, I'm not speaking of the genuinely mentally ill who need to be understood in their confusion and treated with great kindness and appropriate medicine).
So the correct thing to do is to reconnect with normal reality. The incorrect thing to do is connect with an overstimulated and equal artificial "reality."
Stupid approach: "I have these feelings of unreality! I think I was a space angel! Or maybe I am not really here! Or maybe you are not really here! So I guess if I jump off a cliff I will find out!" *Splat*
Correct approach: Do something that you know is when you are least likely to have these feelings. If you cannot do it at the moment, then recall it in your mind or with a friend in conversation. Here's a perfect example. People rarely have inflated feelings of "alienation" or "unreality" when they are waiting in a long, slow line for something they either really want (a new release of a video game, etc) or are really dreading (motor vehicle bureau, inland revenue office, etc.). Notice you and your pals do not feel "unreal" when you are eagerly waiting for something that is a real treat, like that new video game or concert tickets. Equally you do not feel "unreal" when you are dreading with each step what the auditor is going to say to you about your taxes when it is your turn at the head of the line.
See, humans, up until the last one hundred years, like animals, could not escape mundane reality and thus never doubted it. When you have to go and hoe the crops by hand every day or your family will starve to death (really), you are so "connected with the earth" and "reality" that people simply never had those weird burps or hiccups. Again, one does not feel "unreal" unless someone has something to compare it to. Before there were movies, TV, radio, books, the printing press, etc, people did not have an "unreal" to think that they may be part of in the first place! People (and their brains) were always totally in reality since that is all that was offered to them. Again, going back to animals. A giraffe does not have a moment when he imagines he is "not really there" or is "maybe a carp instead" because he does not have the experience of what being something else, or of something being "real" or "imaginary" is like! I mean, duh! It's only when humans started to 1) isolate themselves from reality, since they no longer had to toil each day, unless one is still in those "less developed" "regions," in reality, to prevent the very reality of one's family starving to death and 2) started being exposed, through books (such as fiction, which are lies in print, LOL) and later electronic media to things that are totally imaginary and unreal.
By the way, most of you probably know without realizing it that one of the first things one does to someone he or she is torturing is to disrupt their connection with reality.
So to reconnect with reality one should really study animals as they are, and observe how they are entirely real and of the real world. Then remember that humans are still biologically like animals and hence are very connected to reality too (I doubt many people thought that they were imagining being swept away in the Asian tsunami). The third thing to do, then, is to accept the occasional brain "burps," but don't over analyze it as if you are something special (the tsunami swept away "smart" and "dumb" people alike). That "I am special" is a real problem to good mental health and logical living. So the fourth thing is to work on one's humility. The fifth thing to do is not to ingest substance that inflates one's ego or further disrupts one's connection with reality. As I pointed out in the addictions post, you don't see animals seeking medications; they are one hundred percent reality based. Not only don't animals seek mind altering medications, but they do not seek out physical medications, such as when they are wounded. Why is that? Because animals are entirely reality based and so they learn reality coping mechanisms. For example, if afflicted by flies or other insect pests, animals might roll in the mud, in the sand or immerse in water. They respond reality-to-reality (pest reality-barrier to pest reality). They don't wait around to get bitten and then seek out a pain medication. Animals are evolved to endure the reality and to have coping and survival mechanisms.
So humans have to be very careful in modern times to not become so disconnected from reality, and then worse, be a paranoid carrier of inflated beliefs about "alienation" and "unreality" so that others self reinforce, because society and life choices are increasingly disconnected, yet reality never goes away. Reality is reality because it is real, LOL. I mean, duh. So you can imagine and feel all unreal and alienated until you do get caught in a tsunami, or the bills aren't paid so your satellite TV is disconnected and you can't imagine that the series "Stargate" "might be real," because now your real family and your real rear end is about to be kicked out of your real house because your real mortgage did not get paid to the real banker with the real outstretched hand because your real boss really did fire you from your real job!
I hope this helped. Really.
;-)
Deja vu (the "I've been here before") feeling, by the way, is also easily explained. Let me address that because when it happens some people get all paranoid about its "meaning." Rather than a "burp" or a "hiccup" like unreal or alienated feelings, deja vu is a momentary case of misidentification by the brain. You know how you get a glimpse of someone in a crowd and think you know who it is, but then realize it is not he or she? Well, the reason humans have such superior intellect and brain capacity (compared to animals) is that human brains are built for speed, to do very rapid processing, and brains are wired to do very rapid "pattern matching." Thus one can see an automobile and not each and every time go, "Hmm, what is that object? It has wheels and an ignition and a passenger cab. Ah, it must be a car!" Imagine if you had to think all that through every time you saw an auto! Instead, your brain rapidly "pattern matches." Your brain has pictures stored within it of things you already know, and when you see something it quickly compares what you are seeing to what it has in storage. When it sees a match it assumes, but tells you with certainty, that it is what it is. Deja vu happens when something that you see, or are feeling, or experiencing matches very closely, but incorrectly, something in your brain's picture gallery and memory bank. So you have a "deja vu" feeling that you have been there before, but that is because your brain jumped to a conclusion of familiarity because it found a weak match with a portion of something you have already seen before, or felt, but would not at all think they are alike if someone asked you. Your brain-all brains-once in a while make mistakes. So that's the deja vu problem. Let's get back to the main topic of feelings of unreality or alienation.
Before I explain how the "burp" or "hiccup" occurs, let's start with a clean table of understanding how things work normally when one is a living being, in a state of being alive within a real world. As I've mentioned in my recent blog about addictions, you gain a lot of information and solid grounding in wisdom when you remember that humans and animals share common biology. Animals and humans both have to breathe, eat, ingest fluids, have bodies that are composed of hard and soft tissue, internal organs, a way to reproduce, a way to move and so forth. Humans are basically animals with really big brains and a body that promote agility. (By that I mean, imagine a really smart dinosaur; even if he was really smart, without clever little fingers etc I doubt he could ever build a computer microchip! :-)
So you have to observe animals to understand humans, yourself, since it is like looking in a mirror. Do animals ever doubt their reality? No, they do not; they never doubt their reality. Ha, I can hear you saying, "You can't prove that!" Yes I can. Time for that time honored but forgotten and abused talent called logic and reasoning.
If a living being doubts their reality, this causes confusion in their state of being, obviously, since the person, for that moment, is not even sure if he or she "is real" or is "really part of this world." When one has that "burp," one usually stops what one is doing and mulls it over. The normal response is to realize that while creepy and unpleasant, it is just a burp and move on. The goofy and all too common response is to get whack job cultish, and get together with other paranoid people and worry "what if we are all really movies being shown on a projector," or "what if I'm imagining this," or "I must be remembering a 'past life' or a 'spirit being'" blah blah blah. It's like if you burped or hiccup you run out to find other people to see if they ever burp or hiccup, and when you find out they do, you go "Ah ha! Gosh! I knew it meant something." Then instead of researching how the lungs work and why burps happen you assume that little invisible aliens must be squeezing you with their cute webbed hands, "trying to get your attention." Ah, if only I was really joking, but sadly I am not.
So if animals had feelings of unreality, how would they cope with the sudden and harsh reality of life in nature, which, as we know, "is red in tooth and claw?" OK, now you are watching a nature show, such as one that shows African wildlife. You know that a scene of a lion stalking prey, such as a small wildebeest, is de rigour for such shows. How many times do you see the following?
Scene one: Lion sneaks up on potential prey, a grazing wildebeest.
Scene two: Lion makes a noise and gives away its presence, or it makes its move and leaps and runs toward the wildebeest. Either way the wildebeest is now aware of the lion.
Scene three: The wildebeest has a moment of "alienation" and "unreality," and wonders if it is real and/or if the lion is real (even though it is smelling, hearing and seeing lion with big teeth and claws in a dead run at it).
You don't have to "know" what an animal is "really" "thinking," because with animals all you need to do is observe what they do. Modern humans (not even traditional humans) are the only ones who think the obvious over and wonder about it. Why is this? Because it is what we call a "survival trait" not to think things over, but to quickly act to preserve life, while it is an anti-survival trait to think about whether or not the lion is real that is bearing down upon you and about to rip you apart. What human stands in the middle of a road and wonders if the bus that is about to run him or her over is "real," or if he or she is "really there." The answer is usually, "No one except the mentally ill or someone ingesting or abusing a substance." Mental illness, substance abuse, and some of the effects of a highly unreal media diet are the primary reasons for chronic, over analyzed and misunderstood feelings of "alienation" or "being unreal."
There is no species of animal that would last for the hundreds of thousands (and often tens of millions) of years that they have lasted as a species if any or all of them had "feelings of alienation and unreality." Any species that had such feelings would quickly die out if they were at all prevalent. First of all, animals have nothing to compare reality to in the first place, since animals have no conception of unreality. Animals do not understand that something is "made up" and thus "not real." Animals are entirely rooted in reality. But just so you understand, let's suppose that one wildebeest with too big a brain or who watched too much TV did have a feeling of "unreality" or "alienation." So he wonders if that lion that is leaping upon him is "real," or if he is "real." Yeppers, you guessed it. That wildebeest would become lunch for the lion and would never pass his overly clever but stupid genes onto future wildebeests. Any anti-survival trait is stomped on by the reality of nature, whether individually or as a species. Once an animal does anything that is not one hundred percent in response to reality, it is a goner and so are its potential offspring. So we can see from thousands of years of intelligent observation of animals by humans that animals are entirely reality based. Thus the cure, the detox, for people who have persistent self induced feelings of unreality are to reconnect with reality and get over yourself.
Why do I say "get over yourself?" Because almost always, unless the person is truly mentally ill, they have a grandiose feeling of having stumbled onto some great hidden "truth" when they have these "mysterious" "feelings." The answer, of course, is to let the moment of the brain burp or hiccup pass and simply reconnect with reality. People do try to self heal, and so the instinct to reconnect with reality is there, even in the nuttiest of people who deliberately cultivate their moments like this (again, I'm not speaking of the genuinely mentally ill who need to be understood in their confusion and treated with great kindness and appropriate medicine).
So the correct thing to do is to reconnect with normal reality. The incorrect thing to do is connect with an overstimulated and equal artificial "reality."
Stupid approach: "I have these feelings of unreality! I think I was a space angel! Or maybe I am not really here! Or maybe you are not really here! So I guess if I jump off a cliff I will find out!" *Splat*
Correct approach: Do something that you know is when you are least likely to have these feelings. If you cannot do it at the moment, then recall it in your mind or with a friend in conversation. Here's a perfect example. People rarely have inflated feelings of "alienation" or "unreality" when they are waiting in a long, slow line for something they either really want (a new release of a video game, etc) or are really dreading (motor vehicle bureau, inland revenue office, etc.). Notice you and your pals do not feel "unreal" when you are eagerly waiting for something that is a real treat, like that new video game or concert tickets. Equally you do not feel "unreal" when you are dreading with each step what the auditor is going to say to you about your taxes when it is your turn at the head of the line.
See, humans, up until the last one hundred years, like animals, could not escape mundane reality and thus never doubted it. When you have to go and hoe the crops by hand every day or your family will starve to death (really), you are so "connected with the earth" and "reality" that people simply never had those weird burps or hiccups. Again, one does not feel "unreal" unless someone has something to compare it to. Before there were movies, TV, radio, books, the printing press, etc, people did not have an "unreal" to think that they may be part of in the first place! People (and their brains) were always totally in reality since that is all that was offered to them. Again, going back to animals. A giraffe does not have a moment when he imagines he is "not really there" or is "maybe a carp instead" because he does not have the experience of what being something else, or of something being "real" or "imaginary" is like! I mean, duh! It's only when humans started to 1) isolate themselves from reality, since they no longer had to toil each day, unless one is still in those "less developed" "regions," in reality, to prevent the very reality of one's family starving to death and 2) started being exposed, through books (such as fiction, which are lies in print, LOL) and later electronic media to things that are totally imaginary and unreal.
By the way, most of you probably know without realizing it that one of the first things one does to someone he or she is torturing is to disrupt their connection with reality.
So to reconnect with reality one should really study animals as they are, and observe how they are entirely real and of the real world. Then remember that humans are still biologically like animals and hence are very connected to reality too (I doubt many people thought that they were imagining being swept away in the Asian tsunami). The third thing to do, then, is to accept the occasional brain "burps," but don't over analyze it as if you are something special (the tsunami swept away "smart" and "dumb" people alike). That "I am special" is a real problem to good mental health and logical living. So the fourth thing is to work on one's humility. The fifth thing to do is not to ingest substance that inflates one's ego or further disrupts one's connection with reality. As I pointed out in the addictions post, you don't see animals seeking medications; they are one hundred percent reality based. Not only don't animals seek mind altering medications, but they do not seek out physical medications, such as when they are wounded. Why is that? Because animals are entirely reality based and so they learn reality coping mechanisms. For example, if afflicted by flies or other insect pests, animals might roll in the mud, in the sand or immerse in water. They respond reality-to-reality (pest reality-barrier to pest reality). They don't wait around to get bitten and then seek out a pain medication. Animals are evolved to endure the reality and to have coping and survival mechanisms.
So humans have to be very careful in modern times to not become so disconnected from reality, and then worse, be a paranoid carrier of inflated beliefs about "alienation" and "unreality" so that others self reinforce, because society and life choices are increasingly disconnected, yet reality never goes away. Reality is reality because it is real, LOL. I mean, duh. So you can imagine and feel all unreal and alienated until you do get caught in a tsunami, or the bills aren't paid so your satellite TV is disconnected and you can't imagine that the series "Stargate" "might be real," because now your real family and your real rear end is about to be kicked out of your real house because your real mortgage did not get paid to the real banker with the real outstretched hand because your real boss really did fire you from your real job!
I hope this helped. Really.
;-)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Why all mind altering drugs so dangerous
I've blogged about this before, but a complicated and urgent topic like this benefits from discussion that approaches it from several angles, so you better understand it. I've had this angle of explanation on my mind for a while so here is a quick sketch of the problem with mind altering drugs. This is a problem whether it is illegal drugs or abuse of prescription drugs, and whether it is so called "mild" drugs like supposedly marijuana is believed to be by many (wrongly) or the extreme drugs such as crack cocaine.
First, think about what it is like to be a normal human in a normal human body. From the faith side we know that humans are created in God's image and thus have a high ideal that is within their reach... they need not debase themselves. From the reasoning point of view humans can observe that putting aside their being in God's image, they share biology with animals. In other words, all the same basic principles of biology (how the body, limbs, organs, blood, nerves, brain etc work) are shared between humans and animals. One need not even get into the old evolution argument to understand that humans and animals operate according to the same biological principles and chemistry.
Humans, and animals, achieved their current form because they have adapted to the environment in which they live. They gather and eat the food and drink the water that they can find and that they need, they tolerate the weather, temperatures and other external conditions, and they tend to maximize their success at forming relationships and having offspring.
So, using this logic, you need to understand that you can learn a great deal about what is genuinely healthy and authentic for human minds and bodies by observing animals, since they both succeed on the same principles.
I'm going to cut to the chase and tell you where I am headed with this logical development. The problem with mind altering drugs is that they overstimulate activity within the human mind and body. I am not talking about the immediate effect of ingesting a drug, whether it makes a person stimulated or lethargic. I am speaking about the basic nature of drugs, which is to emphasize continual reactivity. Reactivity, as in being in a constant state of action and reaction, is the word I will use, but you can think of being overstimulated as a handy slang word for what I am trying to convey.
Let's start with a simple analogy. Suppose that a human for some reason spends a day being immersed in water (bathing, swimming, whatever) while at the same time drinking lots of beverages. What is the effect of being within an extraordinary amount of water? You get moist, LOL. Water's nature is to make something wet. You become "wet" both on the outside, as you splash around in water droplets, and on the inside, where you are highly hydrated and have to go and pee alot. The nature of water is to make something moist.
The nature of drugs-all drugs-is to cause a reaction, to change the status quo. I mean, that is obvious, no? If you have a headache, you want to change the status quo, so you take an aspirin. The "job," the "nature" of a drug, therefore, is to go to work at changing your body in some way. How does this change occur? The drug causes an action and a reaction. Suppose someone throws water in your face. That is an action as the water attaches itself to you. You then flinch, close your eyes, turn aside, maybe shake your head, and grab a towel. Those are all reactions. Drugs work the same way. Once they are ingested, like the aspirin, they go into the bloodstream (the action) and then cause the body to react to its presence.
So let's personalize these inanimate objects. The nature and job of water is to make something "moist." The nature and job of a drug is to cause a cycle of action and reaction.
Humans are not meant to be in a state of constant action and reaction. It's not coincidence that animals spend a lot of their time basically doing nothing, with then spurts of energy when necessary to chase food (or run from being food), to find water, to dig for food or shelter, and to produce young and feed them. Humans, being based on the same biology as animals, have evolved and adapted so that they are not optimally intended to be in a constant state of action and reaction.
The more a person takes drugs of any kind, the more their body is in an unconscious expectation to be in cycles of action and reaction. Just as if you were always wet on your skin, and then your skin gets all wrinkly and prune textured on the outside, if you take drugs of any kind, beneficial or harmful, on your "inside" your body starts to expect to be in a constant state of action, reaction, action, reaction, etc.
You can see that following this logic and understanding that a person who occasionally takes several or many different kinds of medicines or drugs has the same risk of this type of change as the person who "only" takes one drug frequently. Remember, I am not speaking of the type of "trip" or reactions that the person has to the drug. I am speaking of the body being trained to not feel "normal" unless is it being constantly urged by a foreign ingested internal substance to act, react, act, react.
So a law abiding normal person who takes an occasional pain reliever, some medicine for other conditions, a number of so called "health supplements," and maybe something "special" for, let's say, erectile dysfunction has the same problem that someone who doesn't take any drug except they huff on dope all the time. Remember, I'm not speaking of the purpose and thus the results of the medicine or drug. I am speaking of the expectation that is created in the body of each person that some substance is going to be given to it, causing an action and a reaction, in a cycle. Both bodies, the normal person and the illegal drug user, now have bodies that "expect" action and reaction.
This then is the great problem with mind altering drugs. Not only the body but now the mind also becomes changed away from its basic natural nature (humans and animals who take no medicine or drugs), to a body that stops functioning the way it should because now it factors in that it expects to be frequently active and reactive in its chemistry.
Caution! I am not saying taking medicine is bad and please do not make any changes in your medication without consulting with a genuine and rational physician! I do not hesitate to take aspirin, for example, when I have an occasional headache or muscle ache. And also one of the great blessings of medicine is to treat conditions such as diabetes.
But there is a difference between, for example, medication that makes up for a natural body deficiency, and one that introduces a new function. For example, many people died of diabetes before insulin was discovered, a natural product of the body, and manufactured, for those who could not make enough of their own insulin. This is an example of medicine that is given to make up for a lack of that function in the body, but it is a function that the body has evolved to know and to expect to have.
Medicine that is a foreign substance (not what the body naturally produces) stimulates the action and reaction response, and that is the whole point, of course, and there is nothing wrong with that. The whole field of chemistry is the study of actions and reactions. Substances that do not react are called "inert," by the way. So a medicine causes an action on the area that you or your physician is trying to change (like relieve pain) and then there is a reaction.
So here is what I am saying. Even if you are taking a drug that causes you to be lazy, sleepy or low functioning, on the "inside" your body is busier than it ever was. This is because it is active inside within a state of action/reaction as the drug does its work, since that is its nature. The reason you are sleepy on the outside is that the drug and your internal organs are "busy" inside. So regardless if the drug is stimulating or depressing of functions, on the "inside" your brain and your body are accelerated in their level of activity. The mind and the body start to "adapt," just as it would adapt if you were constantly doused with water, where the mind and body now start to "expect" an increased and eventually a continual state of action/reaction, even if you are not ingesting a drug at the time. The body and the mind now start a pressure and a "countdown" to when it will next be stimulated and "busy," internally. That is the trap of the addict, and this is what I mean in previous blog postings when I explain that eventually the drug's "personality" has taken over the addict's, even if the addict is not high.
This is because whether medicine or illegal drug, once the body and mind have experienced the drug's action/reaction, it prepares and anticipates the next cycle of that action/reaction. We know an innocent example of this when people become "used to" their medications and the medicine is not as effective as it used to be. We know the not so innocent example of this when people, even when they do not realize it, are "counting down" inside, no matter what activity they are engaged in, waiting for the next cigarette, the next hit, or the next dosing. It's not just the craving that I am describing. I am explaining that the body and mind now expect to "get to work" in that special way it has learned, which is action/reaction.
Think of your inner mind and body like a perfect factory that used to leisurely produce on the assembly line a nice normal average day. One one starts ingesting drugs, it is like the assembly line now retools because it learned that sometimes half of the supplies it needs are missing, but it gets double the supplies that it needs in another part of the assembly line. So instead of having a normal day of let's say A+B+C, A+B+C, A+B+C, where you have just the right amount of A's and B's and C's to put together predictable and successful chains of A+B+C, your body now gets a whole bunch of C's sent to it, before the A and the B's arrive, and when they do arrive they are out of order. The body and mind are cleaver, though, and they learn how to cope with being thrown a lot of C's so that you can use them up, A+B+C+C+C, A+B+C, A+B+C+C+C, etc.... and you can also get used to missing some of the A's or B's.... so your body may go C+C, A+B+C, C+C+C, B+C+C......
But what if A is restfulness and peace of mind? What if B is proper nutrition? And what if C is stimulation? Your body retools to deal with whatever it is dealt, and even develops a sort of glee at how great it can handle it. (That is because under stress adrenaline is released, so even when something bad internally is going on, if you "handle it" you feel a kind of superior rush and glee). That is the horrible problem of becoming accustomed to internal chemical action/reaction and thus overstimulation, even though the drug you take may be a depressant on the outside.
Look at the speculation about what happened to Michael Jackson. He, like everyone else, is born with a body and a mind that expects A+B+C. But somehow, let's say due to his accident, or due to his false beliefs, he has trauma that results in a physical ailment, such as insomnia. If A in our example is peace of mind, somewhere along the line his A was disrupted. (No jokes about "A" please! Let's pretend we are all more mature than twelve year olds.) So due to a trauma or bad lifestyle choices, his A+B+C is disrupted. He then takes increasingly stronger drugs to help him sleep or whatever, which then throws a ton of "C" into his body. His already stressed A of peace of mind is now totally neglected because by using the drugs he has given up on treating the core problem and restoring A+B+C. His body now becomes used to, and at times gleeful, to doing "without" A. He may be sad on the outside and in his heart, but his body chemistry, since the body is a wonderful thing, becomes inflated, superior feeling and gleeful at "handling" all that C and just doing without enough A (peace of mind), which is what got him in the problem in the first place.
Do you see what I mean? The very talent that the body has at dealing with, for example a bite of food that has gone bad can also very quickly get used to an unnatural overstimulation of expectation of action/reaction.
This is particularly ruinous when it is mind altering drugs that is being ingested, even, as you now understand "small" amounts of "only weed." In a very quick time after even only one or two exposures, your body retools to expect the unpredictable, which is anything but A+B+C. Here we have the problem where A may represent reality rather than peace of mind. If a normal human or animal gets through the day thinking A(reality) + B (more information) + C (a decision whether to act or not), mind altering drugs train the body and the mind to ignore or be used to "shortages" of A (reality) to the point of even being gleeful that one is creating "one's own reality." Addicts start viewing the world as C+C+B+C+c+C+bbb+ C, stumble over an A, impose on it C+B+C+C, even if they are not under the influence at the time!
In other words, addicts and even casual drug users train their internal body and mind to expect first and foremost action, action, action, action, some information, action, action, action, some information, oops trips over reality, denies reality, replaces with more action, action, action.
This is why it's a very small step from casual drug use to being an inflated ego maniac who thinks he or she is "in on" the "truth" and is "called" to a "mission" to "fix" and do "good deeds" that "repair" the unseen "disruptions" in "the balance." There's a disruption in the balance alright, but it ain't because of aliens, spirits, social injustice, etc. It's the disruption in A+B+C in both the body and the mind's reality and their expectations.
This is why addicts, even when not delusional or using, are absolutely positively convinced of unreal things and just will not let go of the un-reality. This is because drugs have retrained their internal assembly line to do without genuine reality and to, instead, produce and continual stream of "product" based on "action" and "reaction." Addicts stir up trouble everywhere, in their own minds and in their deeds, because they are using up all that C, that "action" that they have started producing in their minds and bodies. They then end up chasing their own tails as they take more and more substance to compensate for the lack of A, whether it is reality or peace of mind.
Simple observation shows that animals do not self medicate. If they did they would have evolved in a way where animals seek out food that medicates, but does not interfere with A, which is the reality of survival (a stoned out gnu will quickly be eaten by a clean lion). So animals do some basic things to enhance jeopardized health, such as roll in mud for a wound, or eat from certain bark that relieves pain or has antiseptic, but they are not evolved to be action before reality oriented. This is how through simple observation we as humans know that we too are not evolved to be action before reality.
We all know people, such as the elderly, with genuine infirmities who take legitimate medicine, yet are still unhappy. There are many reasons of course, but the one that we are discussing today is that medicine gives a false sense of C, of taking real action, and when results are partial or imperfect, and the condition remains, though it is eased, humans start to devalue their A of peace of mind and reality. Even good medicine, when given in pill or drug form, stimulates over expectations and diminishing of peace of mind with reality. Imagine how much more so is the danger and the change as a result of taking mind altering drugs!
I hope that you have found this helpful. Do not stop taking legitimate medication, but be aware of how it gives unreal expectations and also the need for medicine that is not simply ingesting substance, but enhancing reality based peace of mind. And definitely do not take any mind altering drugs, ever, at all, not even "a little" and not even "to experiment." All you are experimenting with is ruining what your mind and body has been honed to do by both God and by its adapted for survival and thriving true nature.
First, think about what it is like to be a normal human in a normal human body. From the faith side we know that humans are created in God's image and thus have a high ideal that is within their reach... they need not debase themselves. From the reasoning point of view humans can observe that putting aside their being in God's image, they share biology with animals. In other words, all the same basic principles of biology (how the body, limbs, organs, blood, nerves, brain etc work) are shared between humans and animals. One need not even get into the old evolution argument to understand that humans and animals operate according to the same biological principles and chemistry.
Humans, and animals, achieved their current form because they have adapted to the environment in which they live. They gather and eat the food and drink the water that they can find and that they need, they tolerate the weather, temperatures and other external conditions, and they tend to maximize their success at forming relationships and having offspring.
So, using this logic, you need to understand that you can learn a great deal about what is genuinely healthy and authentic for human minds and bodies by observing animals, since they both succeed on the same principles.
I'm going to cut to the chase and tell you where I am headed with this logical development. The problem with mind altering drugs is that they overstimulate activity within the human mind and body. I am not talking about the immediate effect of ingesting a drug, whether it makes a person stimulated or lethargic. I am speaking about the basic nature of drugs, which is to emphasize continual reactivity. Reactivity, as in being in a constant state of action and reaction, is the word I will use, but you can think of being overstimulated as a handy slang word for what I am trying to convey.
Let's start with a simple analogy. Suppose that a human for some reason spends a day being immersed in water (bathing, swimming, whatever) while at the same time drinking lots of beverages. What is the effect of being within an extraordinary amount of water? You get moist, LOL. Water's nature is to make something wet. You become "wet" both on the outside, as you splash around in water droplets, and on the inside, where you are highly hydrated and have to go and pee alot. The nature of water is to make something moist.
The nature of drugs-all drugs-is to cause a reaction, to change the status quo. I mean, that is obvious, no? If you have a headache, you want to change the status quo, so you take an aspirin. The "job," the "nature" of a drug, therefore, is to go to work at changing your body in some way. How does this change occur? The drug causes an action and a reaction. Suppose someone throws water in your face. That is an action as the water attaches itself to you. You then flinch, close your eyes, turn aside, maybe shake your head, and grab a towel. Those are all reactions. Drugs work the same way. Once they are ingested, like the aspirin, they go into the bloodstream (the action) and then cause the body to react to its presence.
So let's personalize these inanimate objects. The nature and job of water is to make something "moist." The nature and job of a drug is to cause a cycle of action and reaction.
Humans are not meant to be in a state of constant action and reaction. It's not coincidence that animals spend a lot of their time basically doing nothing, with then spurts of energy when necessary to chase food (or run from being food), to find water, to dig for food or shelter, and to produce young and feed them. Humans, being based on the same biology as animals, have evolved and adapted so that they are not optimally intended to be in a constant state of action and reaction.
The more a person takes drugs of any kind, the more their body is in an unconscious expectation to be in cycles of action and reaction. Just as if you were always wet on your skin, and then your skin gets all wrinkly and prune textured on the outside, if you take drugs of any kind, beneficial or harmful, on your "inside" your body starts to expect to be in a constant state of action, reaction, action, reaction, etc.
You can see that following this logic and understanding that a person who occasionally takes several or many different kinds of medicines or drugs has the same risk of this type of change as the person who "only" takes one drug frequently. Remember, I am not speaking of the type of "trip" or reactions that the person has to the drug. I am speaking of the body being trained to not feel "normal" unless is it being constantly urged by a foreign ingested internal substance to act, react, act, react.
So a law abiding normal person who takes an occasional pain reliever, some medicine for other conditions, a number of so called "health supplements," and maybe something "special" for, let's say, erectile dysfunction has the same problem that someone who doesn't take any drug except they huff on dope all the time. Remember, I'm not speaking of the purpose and thus the results of the medicine or drug. I am speaking of the expectation that is created in the body of each person that some substance is going to be given to it, causing an action and a reaction, in a cycle. Both bodies, the normal person and the illegal drug user, now have bodies that "expect" action and reaction.
This then is the great problem with mind altering drugs. Not only the body but now the mind also becomes changed away from its basic natural nature (humans and animals who take no medicine or drugs), to a body that stops functioning the way it should because now it factors in that it expects to be frequently active and reactive in its chemistry.
Caution! I am not saying taking medicine is bad and please do not make any changes in your medication without consulting with a genuine and rational physician! I do not hesitate to take aspirin, for example, when I have an occasional headache or muscle ache. And also one of the great blessings of medicine is to treat conditions such as diabetes.
But there is a difference between, for example, medication that makes up for a natural body deficiency, and one that introduces a new function. For example, many people died of diabetes before insulin was discovered, a natural product of the body, and manufactured, for those who could not make enough of their own insulin. This is an example of medicine that is given to make up for a lack of that function in the body, but it is a function that the body has evolved to know and to expect to have.
Medicine that is a foreign substance (not what the body naturally produces) stimulates the action and reaction response, and that is the whole point, of course, and there is nothing wrong with that. The whole field of chemistry is the study of actions and reactions. Substances that do not react are called "inert," by the way. So a medicine causes an action on the area that you or your physician is trying to change (like relieve pain) and then there is a reaction.
So here is what I am saying. Even if you are taking a drug that causes you to be lazy, sleepy or low functioning, on the "inside" your body is busier than it ever was. This is because it is active inside within a state of action/reaction as the drug does its work, since that is its nature. The reason you are sleepy on the outside is that the drug and your internal organs are "busy" inside. So regardless if the drug is stimulating or depressing of functions, on the "inside" your brain and your body are accelerated in their level of activity. The mind and the body start to "adapt," just as it would adapt if you were constantly doused with water, where the mind and body now start to "expect" an increased and eventually a continual state of action/reaction, even if you are not ingesting a drug at the time. The body and the mind now start a pressure and a "countdown" to when it will next be stimulated and "busy," internally. That is the trap of the addict, and this is what I mean in previous blog postings when I explain that eventually the drug's "personality" has taken over the addict's, even if the addict is not high.
This is because whether medicine or illegal drug, once the body and mind have experienced the drug's action/reaction, it prepares and anticipates the next cycle of that action/reaction. We know an innocent example of this when people become "used to" their medications and the medicine is not as effective as it used to be. We know the not so innocent example of this when people, even when they do not realize it, are "counting down" inside, no matter what activity they are engaged in, waiting for the next cigarette, the next hit, or the next dosing. It's not just the craving that I am describing. I am explaining that the body and mind now expect to "get to work" in that special way it has learned, which is action/reaction.
Think of your inner mind and body like a perfect factory that used to leisurely produce on the assembly line a nice normal average day. One one starts ingesting drugs, it is like the assembly line now retools because it learned that sometimes half of the supplies it needs are missing, but it gets double the supplies that it needs in another part of the assembly line. So instead of having a normal day of let's say A+B+C, A+B+C, A+B+C, where you have just the right amount of A's and B's and C's to put together predictable and successful chains of A+B+C, your body now gets a whole bunch of C's sent to it, before the A and the B's arrive, and when they do arrive they are out of order. The body and mind are cleaver, though, and they learn how to cope with being thrown a lot of C's so that you can use them up, A+B+C+C+C, A+B+C, A+B+C+C+C, etc.... and you can also get used to missing some of the A's or B's.... so your body may go C+C, A+B+C, C+C+C, B+C+C......
But what if A is restfulness and peace of mind? What if B is proper nutrition? And what if C is stimulation? Your body retools to deal with whatever it is dealt, and even develops a sort of glee at how great it can handle it. (That is because under stress adrenaline is released, so even when something bad internally is going on, if you "handle it" you feel a kind of superior rush and glee). That is the horrible problem of becoming accustomed to internal chemical action/reaction and thus overstimulation, even though the drug you take may be a depressant on the outside.
Look at the speculation about what happened to Michael Jackson. He, like everyone else, is born with a body and a mind that expects A+B+C. But somehow, let's say due to his accident, or due to his false beliefs, he has trauma that results in a physical ailment, such as insomnia. If A in our example is peace of mind, somewhere along the line his A was disrupted. (No jokes about "A" please! Let's pretend we are all more mature than twelve year olds.) So due to a trauma or bad lifestyle choices, his A+B+C is disrupted. He then takes increasingly stronger drugs to help him sleep or whatever, which then throws a ton of "C" into his body. His already stressed A of peace of mind is now totally neglected because by using the drugs he has given up on treating the core problem and restoring A+B+C. His body now becomes used to, and at times gleeful, to doing "without" A. He may be sad on the outside and in his heart, but his body chemistry, since the body is a wonderful thing, becomes inflated, superior feeling and gleeful at "handling" all that C and just doing without enough A (peace of mind), which is what got him in the problem in the first place.
Do you see what I mean? The very talent that the body has at dealing with, for example a bite of food that has gone bad can also very quickly get used to an unnatural overstimulation of expectation of action/reaction.
This is particularly ruinous when it is mind altering drugs that is being ingested, even, as you now understand "small" amounts of "only weed." In a very quick time after even only one or two exposures, your body retools to expect the unpredictable, which is anything but A+B+C. Here we have the problem where A may represent reality rather than peace of mind. If a normal human or animal gets through the day thinking A(reality) + B (more information) + C (a decision whether to act or not), mind altering drugs train the body and the mind to ignore or be used to "shortages" of A (reality) to the point of even being gleeful that one is creating "one's own reality." Addicts start viewing the world as C+C+B+C+c+C+bbb+ C, stumble over an A, impose on it C+B+C+C, even if they are not under the influence at the time!
In other words, addicts and even casual drug users train their internal body and mind to expect first and foremost action, action, action, action, some information, action, action, action, some information, oops trips over reality, denies reality, replaces with more action, action, action.
This is why it's a very small step from casual drug use to being an inflated ego maniac who thinks he or she is "in on" the "truth" and is "called" to a "mission" to "fix" and do "good deeds" that "repair" the unseen "disruptions" in "the balance." There's a disruption in the balance alright, but it ain't because of aliens, spirits, social injustice, etc. It's the disruption in A+B+C in both the body and the mind's reality and their expectations.
This is why addicts, even when not delusional or using, are absolutely positively convinced of unreal things and just will not let go of the un-reality. This is because drugs have retrained their internal assembly line to do without genuine reality and to, instead, produce and continual stream of "product" based on "action" and "reaction." Addicts stir up trouble everywhere, in their own minds and in their deeds, because they are using up all that C, that "action" that they have started producing in their minds and bodies. They then end up chasing their own tails as they take more and more substance to compensate for the lack of A, whether it is reality or peace of mind.
Simple observation shows that animals do not self medicate. If they did they would have evolved in a way where animals seek out food that medicates, but does not interfere with A, which is the reality of survival (a stoned out gnu will quickly be eaten by a clean lion). So animals do some basic things to enhance jeopardized health, such as roll in mud for a wound, or eat from certain bark that relieves pain or has antiseptic, but they are not evolved to be action before reality oriented. This is how through simple observation we as humans know that we too are not evolved to be action before reality.
We all know people, such as the elderly, with genuine infirmities who take legitimate medicine, yet are still unhappy. There are many reasons of course, but the one that we are discussing today is that medicine gives a false sense of C, of taking real action, and when results are partial or imperfect, and the condition remains, though it is eased, humans start to devalue their A of peace of mind and reality. Even good medicine, when given in pill or drug form, stimulates over expectations and diminishing of peace of mind with reality. Imagine how much more so is the danger and the change as a result of taking mind altering drugs!
I hope that you have found this helpful. Do not stop taking legitimate medication, but be aware of how it gives unreal expectations and also the need for medicine that is not simply ingesting substance, but enhancing reality based peace of mind. And definitely do not take any mind altering drugs, ever, at all, not even "a little" and not even "to experiment." All you are experimenting with is ruining what your mind and body has been honed to do by both God and by its adapted for survival and thriving true nature.
Monday, January 26, 2009
A simple song of worship to God
I like to buy in book stores and also in flea markets and other providers of used books hymnals and other collections of praise and worship songs. I just found a copy of “Singing Worship with Boys and Girls,” edited by Edith Lovell Thomas, Abingdon Press 1935. With so much violent, sleazy and at best world weary lyrics in many popular songs, I like to just read the simple poetry and grace of songs like these. I opened to one song when I first picked up the book and these are the lyrics. They provide such a simple and beautiful reminder of God’s nature.
God’s Signals
(Source unknown, music by U.C. Burnap, 1898)
I hung a pink-cloud ribbon
O’er the mountains free,
To say to you, “Good morning;”
Did you see? Did you see?
I asked a thrush to sing to you
Something glad and clear,
His joyous song at noontime;
Did you hear? Did you hear?
And then I asked the west winds,
So soft and sweet, to blow
To you my “Good night” tender;
Did you know? Did you know?
Sometimes a simple song such as this is an important reminder of the genuine “signs” of God and how they are there throughout the day. The song is structured to start with the morning dawn’s pink colored sky as the first greeting by God, the bird’s song in the midday whose song gladdens the hearts of humans who hear, and thus is a gift from God, and at night when the welcome breeze softly cools away the heat of the day’s labor. People constantly look for great signs and mighty deeds, especially those that might be apocalyptic, and they miss the hundreds of small signs from God about the goodness of life each day.
God’s Signals
(Source unknown, music by U.C. Burnap, 1898)
I hung a pink-cloud ribbon
O’er the mountains free,
To say to you, “Good morning;”
Did you see? Did you see?
I asked a thrush to sing to you
Something glad and clear,
His joyous song at noontime;
Did you hear? Did you hear?
And then I asked the west winds,
So soft and sweet, to blow
To you my “Good night” tender;
Did you know? Did you know?
Sometimes a simple song such as this is an important reminder of the genuine “signs” of God and how they are there throughout the day. The song is structured to start with the morning dawn’s pink colored sky as the first greeting by God, the bird’s song in the midday whose song gladdens the hearts of humans who hear, and thus is a gift from God, and at night when the welcome breeze softly cools away the heat of the day’s labor. People constantly look for great signs and mighty deeds, especially those that might be apocalyptic, and they miss the hundreds of small signs from God about the goodness of life each day.
By the way, one of my fondest memory and emotion triggers is the song of the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) at dusk. I have lived for many years in places where there would always be a Wood Thrush singing the transition from daytime into dark, and it has such a pure and sweet whistle.
If you go to this link and click on "Song" in the left column you can hear a brief clip of the Wood Thrush's song.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7550id.html
There is a longer sample at this link (click on "Sound"), that gives you not only its song, but at the end the sound of it being disturbed and somewhat peeved! So when you listen to this link you hear what I heard every evening during summer and autumn months, until the thrushes left for migration each year. For me they are like "comfort food" for the ears :-)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Wood_Thrush1.html
When I was still living at home and in school, the woods across the street was not developed for housing as it is now, and it had many thrushes, both Wood Thrushes and the Verry. There are five Hylocichala, all looking very similar, and I'm pleased to say that my birdwatching best friend and I had seen and identified all five. They look very much alike but can be easily distinguished by their distinctive songs.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this and thinking about this reminder.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Interesting bird watching sight this morning
People who know me know that I'm a bird watcher and nature lover, so I'm always on the watch for birds and other animals and what they are up to. I didn't have to look too far this morning, as an amazing sight unfolded right in front of me, as I was driving my car back from the grocery store. Another thing that is cool is that I would have missed this sight if my regular newspaper box by my apartment had not let me down and refused to open, thus forcing me to drive to the store and do some early shopping.
There's a very pretty Presbyterian church being built and I drive by it to and from the store. Construction workers are doing a great job, and they work every day, including through the weekend. So I drove past it like normal on the way to the store and saw that they were busy. It's quite warm here (short sleeve and T shirt weather, I'm wearing a summer dress) as we've not yet gotten the cold front. So on my way back as I'm driving toward the church, here is what I see.
There is a huge flock of large white birds circling directly over the church! At first I was not sure what they were since I was still a bit of distance away, but as I got closer I realized that there were around one hundred and fifty pelicans! (They look white at a distance in the sun, but are actually brown pelicans.) Having my camera I pulled off onto the side of the road across from the church and watched with amusement. Despite these very large birds circling around right overhead, nary a construction worker spared them a glance, including the guy who was the most "exposed" as he was working on the roof! Heh heh heh. So this was a great vision of nature, and also an amusing human story. Would he look up? Nope, not even when I took a picture of him and the birds. They milled and circled over the church for about a minute or two and then they flew across the motorway and get this... they then started circling over the Catholic church!
They followed the same pattern, circling for a while and then moving on to another building of interest, near the boat launch on the river. They are year around residents here and common, but this was the first I'd seen them flock inland, and think it has to do with grouping together during the change of seasons. Very interesting.
There's a very pretty Presbyterian church being built and I drive by it to and from the store. Construction workers are doing a great job, and they work every day, including through the weekend. So I drove past it like normal on the way to the store and saw that they were busy. It's quite warm here (short sleeve and T shirt weather, I'm wearing a summer dress) as we've not yet gotten the cold front. So on my way back as I'm driving toward the church, here is what I see.
There is a huge flock of large white birds circling directly over the church! At first I was not sure what they were since I was still a bit of distance away, but as I got closer I realized that there were around one hundred and fifty pelicans! (They look white at a distance in the sun, but are actually brown pelicans.) Having my camera I pulled off onto the side of the road across from the church and watched with amusement. Despite these very large birds circling around right overhead, nary a construction worker spared them a glance, including the guy who was the most "exposed" as he was working on the roof! Heh heh heh. So this was a great vision of nature, and also an amusing human story. Would he look up? Nope, not even when I took a picture of him and the birds. They milled and circled over the church for about a minute or two and then they flew across the motorway and get this... they then started circling over the Catholic church!
They followed the same pattern, circling for a while and then moving on to another building of interest, near the boat launch on the river. They are year around residents here and common, but this was the first I'd seen them flock inland, and think it has to do with grouping together during the change of seasons. Very interesting.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
As I was typing the previous posting...
... the few sprinkles of rain turned into a downpour, and washed away the very remaining white flower heads on the goldenrod plants that I was describing, LOL. That is nature being droll :-)
The rain is very welcome as the South has been too dry, having been within a longtime shortage of rain, with some places having very severe drought.
The rain is very welcome as the South has been too dry, having been within a longtime shortage of rain, with some places having very severe drought.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Interesting hawk sighting today
While driving down a busy road, at the point where the road passes between two wooded areas, a hawk flew across the road in front of my car at eye level. Fortunately I was going slowly, the speed limit, as I mostly do, even when people tailgate me.
I saw the vivid black and white banded tail of a smallish type hawk of the buteo variety. But what surprised me was the dark and solid black back. So I had the sudden idea that it might have been a zone tailed hawk, although that was unlikely since this is many hundreds of miles from where that uncommon hawk variety is found.
I consulted my bird book at home and realized that it was good old common familiar broad winged hawk, just like the one I often see in the bayou out back! What threw me for a while was the seeing of the hawk from the top down, rather than looking up at it in flight, where the black back is not easy to see.
There's no hidden meaning in this posting. I'm just sharing a good bird watching experience.
Broad winged hawk Buteo platypterus
Zone tailed hawk Buteo albonotatus
I saw the vivid black and white banded tail of a smallish type hawk of the buteo variety. But what surprised me was the dark and solid black back. So I had the sudden idea that it might have been a zone tailed hawk, although that was unlikely since this is many hundreds of miles from where that uncommon hawk variety is found.
I consulted my bird book at home and realized that it was good old common familiar broad winged hawk, just like the one I often see in the bayou out back! What threw me for a while was the seeing of the hawk from the top down, rather than looking up at it in flight, where the black back is not easy to see.
There's no hidden meaning in this posting. I'm just sharing a good bird watching experience.
Broad winged hawk Buteo platypterus
Zone tailed hawk Buteo albonotatus
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
My attitude toward zoos
This is a very important hot button topic, with issues way beyond sentimentality. There have been many instances of both terrible overall zoo conditions and specific examples of certain animal exhibits in otherwise reasonable zoo settings who are confined in far too small spaces for their well being. I am sympathetic toward the part of the public and animal rights supporters who demand the closing down of entire zoos or of the exhibiting of certain animals whom compassion and common sense can tell us are living in unhappy circumstances.
However, this means that zoos must be also recognized for two vital and essential services that they provide. One is that it is essential that animals ambassadors continue to be made available to the public around the world. Yes, you read that right: ambassadors. I view zoo animals as an essential part of the human development experience. As such they are like foreign ambassadors who go to a country in order to live and represent their interests. Therefore, they should life in circumstances that an ambassador requires and deserves. It is a sacrifice to have a herd of elephants taken from their habitat and placed in a limited space. But it is a sacrifice that is for the greater good. These elephants are ambassadors for their entire species. People must see real animals and have real education, not just through sentimental cartoon movies and wildlife adventure DVDs. Too many animal rights advocates are rich self indulgent people who can afford safari vacations or "adventure" trips. Zoos are for everyone else. They are for the children. They are for the poor and middle class. They are for the disabled and the elderly. They are for the people who cannot travel to the "real ecosystem" to "appreciate the animal in its natural setting." Animals are both educational and soothing. They are part of making humans more humane. They are ambassadors for not just their species but for the joy of life, something that is under attack and thus in very short supply.
The second essential purpose of zoos is the continuation of the species. It is no surprise or secret that without zoos and associated breeding programs that many species would be in even more peril and dire diminishing of numbers than they are now. Zoos are the first and last defense against future extinctions of further animal species. For example, I sure wish that the Chinese dolphins which have gone extinct were "cramped" in some "zoo" condition somewhere in the world today, rather than totally dead and gone.
What is the value of a life, of any life? Each life is precious, whether animal or human, whether long and happy or short and sad.... or short and happy or long and sad. We don't kill humans who have lives that "do not live up to their full potential." Likewise we don't go up to grieving parents who lost a child and say, "Well, that life wasn't worth living was it?" Similarly, one must recognize this same trade off with animals. Some animal ambassadors will have a lower quality of life than they would have had if they were still living in the wild. But others will live longer and better than they would have in the wild, subject to predations, disease and killing by humans. Animals who can be ambassadors can provide benefits for their species and the human race that are exceptional and essential. Like guide dogs for the blind, living animal ambassadors bring to humans an essential part of the global life experience of being alive and understanding the marvelous diversity of life. People do not live on farms anymore, for the large part, or in wildernesses. Zoos are positive contributors to the quality of life and the valuing of life, both human and animal, for everyone.
I grew up in a city with a terrible zoo, but as a child, I also saw one of the world's best zoos. I have seen the extremes. This is not rocket science here. People who care and put their dollars and volunteer time where their mouths are (and who are allowed to do so, since many wildlife and zoo organizations are incestuous and clannish in their hiring or allowing of citizen involvement) can cultivate brilliant zoos filled with relatively happy animal ambassadors. In Australia for example I have marveled at their great work in bringing the platypus to levels of contentment where they will breed, an outstanding breakthrough, and I wish them even more success. They are a shining example of where the zoo provides not only the ambassador (one that is hard to view in exhibit by that way, ha!) but also the bulwark against extinction of the species. People can build and maintain great zoos, even marvelous zoos.
Zoos need to be discerning and understand their limitations. People will be more understanding of them, even their critics, if they do their homework and recognize what is within their reasonable means and what is not. My home city was terribly traumatized by one of the most stupid errors imaginable that cost the life of a much loved baby elephant. The arrogance and just plain dumbness of some highly paid zoo "professionals" angers me. They did not know their limits. A human parent could have given them better advice about the risks to a newborn or toddler elephant than these idiots seemed to possess in common sense. When I see things like that I am so outraged. There is no excuse because there are so many people who truly know what they are doing who could advise and assist, but they become little defense fiefdoms. I hate that. It harms everyone. A city does not need to be scarred through some zoo oligarch's arrogance and negligence.
But having seen the worse I've also seen the best. As a child I walked through the Berlin zoo when real "habitat" exhibits were still very rare in the world and I marveled at what I saw: a bridge through a building with crocodiles underneath in their natural setting, elephants separated from people by only a moat. My ex husband and I donated to the building of the snow leopard exhibit in the Bronx Zoo, and now many generations of this endangered and so beautiful animal has thrived there.
I think that as those who manage zoos think about their core constituency and their missions, it will help if they think of their animal residents as ambassadors. Just as you would treat a human ambassador, one must recognize that while there are limits because they are "assigned" to that "posting," that they provide an essential and often under appreciated role as ambassadors of life, and so deserve quarters and conditions that such a responsibility and honor demand. And that includes safety, because there are thefts of animals from zoos such as some of the smaller ones in England that are just terrible and result in the animal's death. Naturalness, comfort, space and security are firm requirements that all zoo animals have and if you cannot provide them, then you should not display that animal. Zoos and serious wildlife sanctuaries need to be reasonable about their strengths and limitations and plan and budget accordingly. The display of elephants is the obvious example of where real discernment must take place. Don't be idiots and hang on to unhappy elephants if you can't give them the ambassador treatment. But likewise, critics need to recognize that some zoos really must display elephants. It's ironic that we expect all sorts of scientific and medical breakthroughs from our society, but then think that the kind and generous display of elephants is a problem too difficult to solve. Huh?
I think that zoos should actually be even more mainstream in our society than they really are. Our society really needs places of nature for contemplation. There is no reason that zoos cannot become multipurpose, with aspects of art and park settings mixed with the classical zoo activities. I often walked through the Albuquerque Zoo as an exercise regiment (a mile or two) and as a place for contemplation and peacefulness. For example, I like mixed botanical garden and zoo settings. Why go to one or the other if you can have both in a multi use landscape? It's all good if people keep their positive attitudes and not be churlish. Why not try some new things too, like mixing a zoo with a demonstration farm? Kids could learn about animals and also about cultivation. It's all good.
I hope this helps. I sure could design some good zoos!
However, this means that zoos must be also recognized for two vital and essential services that they provide. One is that it is essential that animals ambassadors continue to be made available to the public around the world. Yes, you read that right: ambassadors. I view zoo animals as an essential part of the human development experience. As such they are like foreign ambassadors who go to a country in order to live and represent their interests. Therefore, they should life in circumstances that an ambassador requires and deserves. It is a sacrifice to have a herd of elephants taken from their habitat and placed in a limited space. But it is a sacrifice that is for the greater good. These elephants are ambassadors for their entire species. People must see real animals and have real education, not just through sentimental cartoon movies and wildlife adventure DVDs. Too many animal rights advocates are rich self indulgent people who can afford safari vacations or "adventure" trips. Zoos are for everyone else. They are for the children. They are for the poor and middle class. They are for the disabled and the elderly. They are for the people who cannot travel to the "real ecosystem" to "appreciate the animal in its natural setting." Animals are both educational and soothing. They are part of making humans more humane. They are ambassadors for not just their species but for the joy of life, something that is under attack and thus in very short supply.
The second essential purpose of zoos is the continuation of the species. It is no surprise or secret that without zoos and associated breeding programs that many species would be in even more peril and dire diminishing of numbers than they are now. Zoos are the first and last defense against future extinctions of further animal species. For example, I sure wish that the Chinese dolphins which have gone extinct were "cramped" in some "zoo" condition somewhere in the world today, rather than totally dead and gone.
What is the value of a life, of any life? Each life is precious, whether animal or human, whether long and happy or short and sad.... or short and happy or long and sad. We don't kill humans who have lives that "do not live up to their full potential." Likewise we don't go up to grieving parents who lost a child and say, "Well, that life wasn't worth living was it?" Similarly, one must recognize this same trade off with animals. Some animal ambassadors will have a lower quality of life than they would have had if they were still living in the wild. But others will live longer and better than they would have in the wild, subject to predations, disease and killing by humans. Animals who can be ambassadors can provide benefits for their species and the human race that are exceptional and essential. Like guide dogs for the blind, living animal ambassadors bring to humans an essential part of the global life experience of being alive and understanding the marvelous diversity of life. People do not live on farms anymore, for the large part, or in wildernesses. Zoos are positive contributors to the quality of life and the valuing of life, both human and animal, for everyone.
I grew up in a city with a terrible zoo, but as a child, I also saw one of the world's best zoos. I have seen the extremes. This is not rocket science here. People who care and put their dollars and volunteer time where their mouths are (and who are allowed to do so, since many wildlife and zoo organizations are incestuous and clannish in their hiring or allowing of citizen involvement) can cultivate brilliant zoos filled with relatively happy animal ambassadors. In Australia for example I have marveled at their great work in bringing the platypus to levels of contentment where they will breed, an outstanding breakthrough, and I wish them even more success. They are a shining example of where the zoo provides not only the ambassador (one that is hard to view in exhibit by that way, ha!) but also the bulwark against extinction of the species. People can build and maintain great zoos, even marvelous zoos.
Zoos need to be discerning and understand their limitations. People will be more understanding of them, even their critics, if they do their homework and recognize what is within their reasonable means and what is not. My home city was terribly traumatized by one of the most stupid errors imaginable that cost the life of a much loved baby elephant. The arrogance and just plain dumbness of some highly paid zoo "professionals" angers me. They did not know their limits. A human parent could have given them better advice about the risks to a newborn or toddler elephant than these idiots seemed to possess in common sense. When I see things like that I am so outraged. There is no excuse because there are so many people who truly know what they are doing who could advise and assist, but they become little defense fiefdoms. I hate that. It harms everyone. A city does not need to be scarred through some zoo oligarch's arrogance and negligence.
But having seen the worse I've also seen the best. As a child I walked through the Berlin zoo when real "habitat" exhibits were still very rare in the world and I marveled at what I saw: a bridge through a building with crocodiles underneath in their natural setting, elephants separated from people by only a moat. My ex husband and I donated to the building of the snow leopard exhibit in the Bronx Zoo, and now many generations of this endangered and so beautiful animal has thrived there.
I think that as those who manage zoos think about their core constituency and their missions, it will help if they think of their animal residents as ambassadors. Just as you would treat a human ambassador, one must recognize that while there are limits because they are "assigned" to that "posting," that they provide an essential and often under appreciated role as ambassadors of life, and so deserve quarters and conditions that such a responsibility and honor demand. And that includes safety, because there are thefts of animals from zoos such as some of the smaller ones in England that are just terrible and result in the animal's death. Naturalness, comfort, space and security are firm requirements that all zoo animals have and if you cannot provide them, then you should not display that animal. Zoos and serious wildlife sanctuaries need to be reasonable about their strengths and limitations and plan and budget accordingly. The display of elephants is the obvious example of where real discernment must take place. Don't be idiots and hang on to unhappy elephants if you can't give them the ambassador treatment. But likewise, critics need to recognize that some zoos really must display elephants. It's ironic that we expect all sorts of scientific and medical breakthroughs from our society, but then think that the kind and generous display of elephants is a problem too difficult to solve. Huh?
I think that zoos should actually be even more mainstream in our society than they really are. Our society really needs places of nature for contemplation. There is no reason that zoos cannot become multipurpose, with aspects of art and park settings mixed with the classical zoo activities. I often walked through the Albuquerque Zoo as an exercise regiment (a mile or two) and as a place for contemplation and peacefulness. For example, I like mixed botanical garden and zoo settings. Why go to one or the other if you can have both in a multi use landscape? It's all good if people keep their positive attitudes and not be churlish. Why not try some new things too, like mixing a zoo with a demonstration farm? Kids could learn about animals and also about cultivation. It's all good.
I hope this helps. I sure could design some good zoos!
Friday, June 6, 2008
One reason I love this time of year
In this hemisphere it is late spring, though where I live in Mississippi it tends to turn into summer heat and bloom well over a month ago. But what I especially love about this time of year is the lengthening of the day. There is still daylight up until nearly 8 o'clock in the evening and I really enjoy that. When I used to work at a job it gave people like me time to enjoy the garden and the outdoors. But even without having a job I still really appreciate the extra sunlight. When I am in the mood to photograph I like late afternoon lighting conditions, and so with long days I can get great photographs during hours of opportunity. When I run a quick errand to the store it's great to go while the sun is still up, not just for the light, but the late afternoon and sunset mood is extended for three hours during this time of year. When I was a child growing up in the country edge of a small village, we converted our garage into a screened porch and sat out there until the sun set. It's a time of year when it is wonderful to have more outdoors oriented hours in the day rather than being stuck inside. It's also the time of year when the birds are quieter, having sorted out their mating and nesting, but the insects and frogs start with their evening buzz. When I lived in the northern part of this country I used to look forward to the fireflies that graced my front yard, flashing orange, gold and green lights in their signals to each other. I'd watch them and fool around with them while my dogs were roaming their front yard doing their business. I liked to catch a firefly between my cupped palms so it would fly around inside my hands, and my fingers would glow when it flashed its lights. I like all the times of the day, the quiet of pre-dawn, the dawn and the singing of the birds, the strength of morning, the decisions at lunchtime (!), the productivity of the afternoon, even enjoying the intensity of the heat. But there is something so graceful about the late afternoon into evening that just is so beautiful and like a long graceful closure to a symphony. The wind shifts, the lighting changes, birds and animals become active again before nature's "bedtime," while those of the night slowly become active and overlap, like seeing the first firefly of the evening. Birds would barely be finished with their day while the bats would come out and fly to scoop up mosquitoes and other insects. Here by the bayou I'd hear the harsh squawk of one of the herons just before it gets dark. This time of year it's as though everyone gets extra hours each day of the full spectrum of nature and its day.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Picture of adorable newly hatched rare kiwi bird
This is so cute! The baby was hatched March 7
http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_080313.html
http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_080313.html
Female wasps pollinate fig trees for 60 million years
This is a great "wonder of nature in harmony" article. But it also is a, hopefully, humbling reminder that nature works the way that it does for a God given reason. These female wasps who lay their eggs in the fig tree fruit have aided the perpetuation of the species for 60 MILLION years. How long have humans been "civilized?" About 6000 years. Good thing for fig trees that the wasps didn't decide they are lesbian, or start smoking crack, or decide they want jobs rather than raise baby wasps, is it not?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23577684/
snip
The relationship between the wasps and figs — which has lasted more than 60 million years — involves female wasps entering figs and pollinating tiny flowers within. The pollinators then lay their eggs in the blossoms, and wasp offspring feed off the seed that develops in the flower.
One mystery scientists face when it comes to mutualism is how it remains stable. What prevents one partner from exploiting the relationship? For instance, the wasps might easily overwhelm the figs with offspring that devour all the seeds.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23577684/
snip
The relationship between the wasps and figs — which has lasted more than 60 million years — involves female wasps entering figs and pollinating tiny flowers within. The pollinators then lay their eggs in the blossoms, and wasp offspring feed off the seed that develops in the flower.
One mystery scientists face when it comes to mutualism is how it remains stable. What prevents one partner from exploiting the relationship? For instance, the wasps might easily overwhelm the figs with offspring that devour all the seeds.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
80 mph winds hit Britain
Look at this picture of two cranes that collapsed in the wind. The scale of the man standing next to the wreckage is amazing!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=523869&in_page_id=1770
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=523869&in_page_id=1770
Monday, September 17, 2007
Bible Reading and Commentary
1 Paralipomenon 16: 23-36 (1 Chronicles)
Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the Gentiles; his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised; and he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens. Praise and magnificence are before him; strength and joy in his place.
Bring ye to the Lord, O ye families of the nations; bring ye to the Lord glory and empire. Give to the Lord glory to his name, bring up sacrifice, and come ye in his sight; and adore the Lord in holy becomingness. Let all the earth be moved at his presence, for he hath founded the world immoveable.
Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad, and let them say among the nations: The Lord hath reigned. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; let the fields rejoice, and all things that are in them. Then shall the trees of the wood give praise before the Lord, because he is come to judge the earth.
Give ye glory to the Lord, for he is good, and for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye: Save us, O God our savior, and gather us together, and deliver us from the nations, that we may give glory to thy holy name, and may rejoice in singing thy praises.
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity; and let all the people say Amen, and a hymn to God.
***
This book of the bible is called in the Greek language Paralipomenon, which means “the things that are left out” meaning detail that is not included in previous books, forming a kind of supplemental writing. In Hebrew this section is called Dibre Haijamim, “The words of the days” otherwise known as The Chronicles. It contains information from the beginning of sacred history with Adam to the Babylonian Exile in 536 BC. The section I have quoted is from the time of David, when David had the Ark placed in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle at the time was a tent that David had pitched for the Ark of God having newly arrived in the City of David, that is, Jerusalem. The Ark was in the charge and care of the priestly tribe, the Levites, and David appointed chiefs and brethren from the tribe to move and place the ark, provide the festivities, musicians and singers, and to conduct sacrifices and then feed the people. (Every person received a loaf of bread, a piece of roast beef, and flour friend with oil). After this feast Asaph, who was appointed chief on this occasion by David, sang the praise I have quoted above.
When meditating on this passage remember that God was physically present in the Ark among the people. So this was not just pretty words of a song written for an occasion; this was praise and affirmation given to God to his very face while in the midst of all the people of Israel. So there is a great correctness in all that is spoken by Asaph (and I quoted only about half of it) not only because the virtue of it being recorded in sacred scripture, but also because of the occasion, where it is spoken directly to God in the Ark.
There are two insights I’d like to point out that I think are missed by many today. The first is to please note how emphatically it is expressed that God is to be praised and glorified not just within the Israelites, but to all “among the Gentiles,” “all the earth,” “among all peoples” and “of the nations.” Now, Judaism today and traditionally is not known as a proselytizing faith. In other words, they do not evangelize. However, it is abundantly clear that the admonition is to praise the one God to all people, every nation throughout the whole earth. God expects and David and the Levites confirm that the One God should be affirmed, glorified and praised not only among themselves, the Israelites, but directly among the Gentiles and among all peoples. This is one reason I give when people wonder why I am affectionate toward devout mainstream Islam. They are declaring their belief very loudly and continuously in the One God. This is one example I give of the validity of the common roots of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The commonality is the unrelenting glorification and affirmation of the One God. This is one reason that Islam “casts a hairy eyeball” (is skeptical) of some aspects of Christianity, as they are concerned that the birth of Jesus by the will of God through the Holy Spirit, and the idea of the Trinity, is a dilution of the affirmation of One God. I’ve blogged and will continue to do so about how that misunderstanding is indicative of a much smaller gap than people realize, but this blogging is intended for different purposes. I wanted to show that it is historically and theologically imperative that the One God be praised and glorified among all people, even if surrounded by idolaters (and by that we mean people who believe that inanimate objects have any portion of divine power.)
This leads me to a second point. Notice that the passage is lavish in description of the beauty of the world: the wonders, heavens, earth, world, sea, fields, the things within them, and trees of the wood. However, all of these aspects of the physical world are praised in relationship to God having created them, and how in turn, their very existence consists of them “praising” God in turn. I think that many people today make two mistakes. One is that they think that early “primitive” people were not full of appreciation for the beauty and majesty of the natural world. Far from it – people then loved the greenery and wilderness and glory of creation probably more than even the most fervent “tree hugger” or “Green” today. This is because ancient people recognized God’s hand in the creation of the earth and all its being around them. It was not just an “old, exceptional specimen of cedar of Lebanon,” it was a tree created and nurtured by God. Just because people lived in subsistence and harvested trees for their buildings did not mean they were not moved very deeply by the beauty of nature. They kept it in perspective, though, because they recognized that the very existence of life in all its natural forms is the result of the hands of God. This is what I mean by the second mistake by people today, who are making a pseudo-religion out of the wonderment and protection of nature. I’m the most ardent steward of earth, and that was even my major in college, but I urge people do not confuse feeling the wonder of God and his creation with either political or real animism. In an odd way the most extreme protectors work against themselves by objectifying “the wonder of nature” separately from God’s works and being the good steward. The good steward makes better protective decisions about nature and the environment than does the person who is practicing a form of political animism that borders on idolatry. The good steward ensures survival by good management in the context of the reality of how people live and the ecosystems. The ineffective “protector” is almost trying to hermetically seal species or parts of ecosystems from the reality in which they must ultimately survive.
So I thought this passage, sung before the real physical in spirit presence of God in the Ark, would give some important perspective and reference point for pondering and learning. When people stray it is important to look back carefully at the original deeds and specific wordings of these important events and teachings. By the way, just as a personal comment, this passage is so important that I’ve had one of my special book marks on this page in my childhood Bible from that very time… just about forty years of time from then to now…
Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the Gentiles; his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised; and he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens. Praise and magnificence are before him; strength and joy in his place.
Bring ye to the Lord, O ye families of the nations; bring ye to the Lord glory and empire. Give to the Lord glory to his name, bring up sacrifice, and come ye in his sight; and adore the Lord in holy becomingness. Let all the earth be moved at his presence, for he hath founded the world immoveable.
Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad, and let them say among the nations: The Lord hath reigned. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; let the fields rejoice, and all things that are in them. Then shall the trees of the wood give praise before the Lord, because he is come to judge the earth.
Give ye glory to the Lord, for he is good, and for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye: Save us, O God our savior, and gather us together, and deliver us from the nations, that we may give glory to thy holy name, and may rejoice in singing thy praises.
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity; and let all the people say Amen, and a hymn to God.
***
This book of the bible is called in the Greek language Paralipomenon, which means “the things that are left out” meaning detail that is not included in previous books, forming a kind of supplemental writing. In Hebrew this section is called Dibre Haijamim, “The words of the days” otherwise known as The Chronicles. It contains information from the beginning of sacred history with Adam to the Babylonian Exile in 536 BC. The section I have quoted is from the time of David, when David had the Ark placed in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle at the time was a tent that David had pitched for the Ark of God having newly arrived in the City of David, that is, Jerusalem. The Ark was in the charge and care of the priestly tribe, the Levites, and David appointed chiefs and brethren from the tribe to move and place the ark, provide the festivities, musicians and singers, and to conduct sacrifices and then feed the people. (Every person received a loaf of bread, a piece of roast beef, and flour friend with oil). After this feast Asaph, who was appointed chief on this occasion by David, sang the praise I have quoted above.
When meditating on this passage remember that God was physically present in the Ark among the people. So this was not just pretty words of a song written for an occasion; this was praise and affirmation given to God to his very face while in the midst of all the people of Israel. So there is a great correctness in all that is spoken by Asaph (and I quoted only about half of it) not only because the virtue of it being recorded in sacred scripture, but also because of the occasion, where it is spoken directly to God in the Ark.
There are two insights I’d like to point out that I think are missed by many today. The first is to please note how emphatically it is expressed that God is to be praised and glorified not just within the Israelites, but to all “among the Gentiles,” “all the earth,” “among all peoples” and “of the nations.” Now, Judaism today and traditionally is not known as a proselytizing faith. In other words, they do not evangelize. However, it is abundantly clear that the admonition is to praise the one God to all people, every nation throughout the whole earth. God expects and David and the Levites confirm that the One God should be affirmed, glorified and praised not only among themselves, the Israelites, but directly among the Gentiles and among all peoples. This is one reason I give when people wonder why I am affectionate toward devout mainstream Islam. They are declaring their belief very loudly and continuously in the One God. This is one example I give of the validity of the common roots of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The commonality is the unrelenting glorification and affirmation of the One God. This is one reason that Islam “casts a hairy eyeball” (is skeptical) of some aspects of Christianity, as they are concerned that the birth of Jesus by the will of God through the Holy Spirit, and the idea of the Trinity, is a dilution of the affirmation of One God. I’ve blogged and will continue to do so about how that misunderstanding is indicative of a much smaller gap than people realize, but this blogging is intended for different purposes. I wanted to show that it is historically and theologically imperative that the One God be praised and glorified among all people, even if surrounded by idolaters (and by that we mean people who believe that inanimate objects have any portion of divine power.)
This leads me to a second point. Notice that the passage is lavish in description of the beauty of the world: the wonders, heavens, earth, world, sea, fields, the things within them, and trees of the wood. However, all of these aspects of the physical world are praised in relationship to God having created them, and how in turn, their very existence consists of them “praising” God in turn. I think that many people today make two mistakes. One is that they think that early “primitive” people were not full of appreciation for the beauty and majesty of the natural world. Far from it – people then loved the greenery and wilderness and glory of creation probably more than even the most fervent “tree hugger” or “Green” today. This is because ancient people recognized God’s hand in the creation of the earth and all its being around them. It was not just an “old, exceptional specimen of cedar of Lebanon,” it was a tree created and nurtured by God. Just because people lived in subsistence and harvested trees for their buildings did not mean they were not moved very deeply by the beauty of nature. They kept it in perspective, though, because they recognized that the very existence of life in all its natural forms is the result of the hands of God. This is what I mean by the second mistake by people today, who are making a pseudo-religion out of the wonderment and protection of nature. I’m the most ardent steward of earth, and that was even my major in college, but I urge people do not confuse feeling the wonder of God and his creation with either political or real animism. In an odd way the most extreme protectors work against themselves by objectifying “the wonder of nature” separately from God’s works and being the good steward. The good steward makes better protective decisions about nature and the environment than does the person who is practicing a form of political animism that borders on idolatry. The good steward ensures survival by good management in the context of the reality of how people live and the ecosystems. The ineffective “protector” is almost trying to hermetically seal species or parts of ecosystems from the reality in which they must ultimately survive.
So I thought this passage, sung before the real physical in spirit presence of God in the Ark, would give some important perspective and reference point for pondering and learning. When people stray it is important to look back carefully at the original deeds and specific wordings of these important events and teachings. By the way, just as a personal comment, this passage is so important that I’ve had one of my special book marks on this page in my childhood Bible from that very time… just about forty years of time from then to now…
Monday, July 2, 2007
Poetry about my natural roommates, written today
A New Yorker in Mississippi,
I just did not know,
That silly little crabs,
Run around to and fro.
They sneak round my patio,
Flee, and fit in the cracks,
Once a tiny little one clung
On the sliding door track!
This morning I near stepped on
One right by my car,
I shooed it off safely,
Rather than catch in a jar!
I just did not know,
That silly little crabs,
Run around to and fro.
They sneak round my patio,
Flee, and fit in the cracks,
Once a tiny little one clung
On the sliding door track!
This morning I near stepped on
One right by my car,
I shooed it off safely,
Rather than catch in a jar!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
