tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34133779439978989202024-03-05T07:35:31.881-08:00Word, From B-townmoejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-72434589379667959972012-03-27T17:59:00.001-07:002012-03-27T18:05:32.512-07:00Hunger Games and History<br />
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<span style="color: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">I had a rare yet welcome experience this past week. I was able
to read the book “The Hunger Games” over the course of a couple days and then
quickly follow-up that read with watching the movie in the <i>theater</i>.
The reason I call this experience rare (at least for me) was that it’s
infrequent I </span><span style="color: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">get to experience such a moving and intricate
story by book and then film so quickly in succession. Thus, while watching theatrical version, I was able to not focus so much on the plot or the turns and twists of the
characters, but an attempt to follow the deeper themes of the story. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">At the very basic heart of the story, there is the idea of
innocent human sacrifice under the ruse of an elaborately entertaining game to maintain control, or at least the illusion of
control from the ruling class over the working class. My mind literally raced
through all the times in my education over the </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">years during which I had heard of similar
stories - except in recollection those that I remember were in fact factual. Examples included (just to
name a few): the gladiators of ancient Rome, the sacrificial practices of the
ancient Aztec culture (most recently and entertainingly depicted in the movie
Apocalypto), the story of Abraham and his son Isaac, and then even more recent
cases of this such as the Crusades</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course there are plenty more throughout history. In fact, I
bet that if I looked hard</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">enough I would be hard pressed to find
a culture throughout history that did not have a similar practice interwoven throughout its history. Moreover, I
realize I would certainly qualify as anything but an expert on any of these
practices, but it certainly seems that each of these practices at the very
least contained elements of an attempt at controling one's 'world' through the
ending of human life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Not only had I remembered all these stories, but also that there
have been people throughout the ages who have at least attempted to understand
them. Rene Girard was one such person that I remember hearing about at least peripherally
while in a collegiate philosophy course. If one were inclined, one could
continue to read about this man’s thoughts </span><a href="http://www.cottet.org/girard/desir1.en.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, but for the basic purpose of my understanding, he seems to think practices such as those mentioned above were developed to control the violent
tendencies of humans that are brought about through desire </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">-- desires which ultimately lead to conflict
followed by scapegoating and violence. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However, what struck me throughout the movie as it compares to this
deeply woven occurrence </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3413377943997898920" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">throughout</a><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 8pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> the course of human history was not
that it depicted one of these processes from the past, but that the story </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">actually takes place in the futuristic
good ole' English speaking </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> – or at least what is left of it
after a nuclear holocaust. I find so many times that it is so easy to look back
at the practices of people of ages gone by and think sometimes to myself –
“what could they possibly have been thinking?” and that “ah, we would never go
so far in modern society…” But this movie encouraged me to think that just
maybe we would, or even worse, maybe we already have<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3413377943997898920" name="_GoBack"></a>…</span></span></div>
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</div>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-21572218699070970512011-12-26T07:54:00.001-08:002011-12-26T14:30:34.726-08:00Ghosts of Christmas Future: Mr. Scrooge and I Share an Experience<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxllUyhiSD0jlEi-29MIl9BOFCOZImaviCBhYb_n6JJqpMpT5zgGXC4wfYh7ZIsqUBYNJIa0NqiHerZL6XJgyOTpSKqhQ1u93zcSRzsQfHyGNpPS5YCZN67iSeWET7x7feXJ-oKvVodE/s1600/Scrooge-McDuck-Thanksgiving-Dinner.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: right;float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 144px; " 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >Christmas is awesome. There are so many things to love about it - the list of course goes on and on, but one of the things I love the most is it seems to lend itself to reflection. Perhaps it's the cool air and seemingly innate instinct to kind of hunker down in Winter that encourages one to pause, and respond to the most-recent year's (or at least some past-years') events.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >I spent the better part of an hour last night lying in bed just sitting, thinking, remembering, and replaying some of the thoughts that surround Christmas in my mind. Primarily, I was trying to pin-point why Christmas is so special. For some odd reason, during this process, my thoughts fixated on some of my favorite Christmas movies. The one film that stood out in particular was the disney version of "A Christmas Carrol." I would assume that most people are at least vaguely familiar with the character of Ebenezer Scrooge (from what was originally a Charles Dickens novel). I was struck because it seems the "spirits" which visit Scrooge in the story were in fact similar to what was happening to me - I was remembering the pleasantries of Christmases past, glowing in the joy of Christmas present, and wondering what kind of traditions and memories do I want to make a part of my Christmases future.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >That was cool.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >Taking that thought process a bit further, I realized that the conversion that Scrooge experiences in the story is one not unlike a conversion I know I could benefit from. Although I (at least) hope I am not as completely self-absorbed as Mr. Scrooge, I am certainly willing to admit that self-absorption is a tendency that I am enticed by. I certainly would not mean to suggest that doing things in one's own best interest would be inappropriate. However, I do mean to suggest that self-absorption does not have to begin and end those who are poor/less-fortunate (as it is in the story), but I can easily be self-absorbed with regard to all of those people with whom I interact daily.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >No, I don't think I ever will have that Scrooge-like dramatic journey which leads to my repentance for years of cruelty, but the profound catharsis through which Ebenezer Scrooge learned how to live for others and not only for himself is one to consider. By simply breaking the circle of his ego, he had enabled the light of the message of Christmas to invade his soul and change him into a new man filled with joy and hope.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >That message of conversion in itself if one worth contemplating. However, since Christmas is traditionally a Christian Holiday, I encouraged myself to take the message delivered by Mr. Scrooge one step further. His conversion, and hopefully the many small ones which I will undergo throughout my life, are modeled most poignantly by what Christmas was at its inception. It was a God who in the most pragmatic of ways deflected Her ego and had at Her interest the needs of all of us. James Farfaglia wrote<i>...<br /></i></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><i><br /></i></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><i> - "... if our greatest need had been knowledge, God would have sent us an educator. Had that greatest need been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. So too had our greatest need been for money, God would have sent us an economist. Had our greatest need been for pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. Because our greatest need was for forgiveness, God sent us a Savior." </i><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >... and through this, demonstrated the exact type of love that we need most and the type we are called to by the Christian celebration of Christmas. And thus it is with this understanding of Scrooge's conversion that I will look forward to the "Christmases future" with hope. That I will be able to continue to recognize that I do have a tendency to be self consuming, but that I will also know to continually remind myself how to direct my love and outward.<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span ><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; "><span >As always, thanks for reading :) A very special Merry Christmas to you all. AMDG</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-18840725215856020382011-07-24T16:07:00.000-07:002011-07-31T15:46:25.983-07:00My Next 30 Years<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOH_lKeEwygoN7QIJHs1f_TbBy0aV9lbfo8EhDKTI-gIA6bzn5AkjkMENjh1IR9wx1Hx0I6MwOs7UZzuYgf4wHrXFYawpMeFQkdD6EZfutPcEcmyj8q8zNyxX7eNeNx86OxWp93sIGcA/s1600/birthday_candles.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOH_lKeEwygoN7QIJHs1f_TbBy0aV9lbfo8EhDKTI-gIA6bzn5AkjkMENjh1IR9wx1Hx0I6MwOs7UZzuYgf4wHrXFYawpMeFQkdD6EZfutPcEcmyj8q8zNyxX7eNeNx86OxWp93sIGcA/s200/birthday_candles.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635650833043032770" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">Cool. I had my 30th birthday a couple weeks back. So now what? Keep living like I have been? Pull a Tim McGraw and eat a few more salads and not stay up too late? Eh, I am looking for a little more perhaps. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">There are a million things I'd like to do - but what is the one thing that really stands out? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">I think after much thought that the thing that I really want to do over the next thirty birthdays is continue in my search for meaning and purpose. Not that my first most recent thirty have been meaning/purposeless - it's just that it took me nearly a quarter century to <b>determine </b>and <b>begin to understand</b> what the more important things are in life. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">So yeah, where do I intend to go and how do I intend to accomplish this ongoing search? Well, I guess I can't be too sure, but there is a semi-dated yet pertinent example from the movie City Slickers that is worth reading. In the scene, Billy Crystal</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "> opens into a cynical monologue in front of his son's grade-school class about the mundane - the mundane that is so easy to let become a part of life - </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">"Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices. It goes by fast. When you're a teenager, you think you can do anything and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Thirties you raise your family, you make a little money, and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?" Forties, you grow a little pot belly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud; one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Fifties, you have a minor surgery -- you'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery. Sixties, you'll have a major surgery, the music is still loud, but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale. You start eating dinner at 2:00 in the afternoon, you have lunch around 10:00, breakfast the night before, spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate soft yogurt and muttering, "How come the kids don't call? How come the kids don't call?" The eighties, you'll have a major stroke, and you end up babbling with some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand, but who you call mama. Any questions?"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">Comical, but here's to hoping that is the opposite of what I'm looking for. For, from my green 30-year old perspective, there seems to be very little meaning in that existence at all. As adequately describe above, chasing other people's dreams is a trip to dissatisfaction - and it certainly doesn't yield an understanding of life's meaning and personal purpose.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">Throughout the reading years of my life-time I have come across some shorter quotations that that do describe the meaning which I think I'm looking for - </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">- "I</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">n these bodies we will live, and in these bodies we will die, but where you invest your love is where you invest your life!" - Mumford and Sons band</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- "There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst of conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life... For he who has a why to live can bear almost any how." - Victor Frankl</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." - Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- "We'll all be forgotten anyway, so we might as well be effective... and the only thing that finally matters is to be effective in the way we love." - Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">Yeah, that should be it - a big investment in love. Just like my boy J.C., simply the best example there is of living a life of simple, practical love - I want to continue to expand my understanding and practice of a love that is ever expanding... "that is always patient, always kind, and never boastful." </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">If I do that, I hope to instead of "find(ing) a world of happiness without the hate and fear" that Tim McGraw describe, I'll help create one.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">As always, thanks for reading :)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">AMDG</span></div>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-80222894693606387802011-05-27T07:34:00.000-07:002011-05-27T13:44:11.368-07:00Life in the Ordinary: A follow-up consideration to my recent hike on the AT<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnownd5K9Vd8-wmAK5hc_7rpjkv9h3n8-P0VfTjdiu_nzDIy4v-fWsp6jRZBUm6p9AKZWS6SG6Ch0JoRFd_NBfhBWWd9cEvwOJ9kpyoWPpDA_pfhjjHkBqhBu_pYn0rHYoDIHnF5ZGZo/s1600/kglb%2527.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHnownd5K9Vd8-wmAK5hc_7rpjkv9h3n8-P0VfTjdiu_nzDIy4v-fWsp6jRZBUm6p9AKZWS6SG6Ch0JoRFd_NBfhBWWd9cEvwOJ9kpyoWPpDA_pfhjjHkBqhBu_pYn0rHYoDIHnF5ZGZo/s200/kglb%2527.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611405663021284930" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Calibri; ">So while I was reading what I had written recently about the my AT hike - specifically about it being something other than ordinary, I had the odd realization that paradoxically there was also something about the ordinary nature of the trip that was so neat. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">Again, let me explain.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">Upon consideration, there was much about this hiking experience which was oddly similar to nearly all other 'new' things I do in my life - meaning that it was (like most other new experiences) at the start understandably exciting, interesting, and invigorating. For example, each oddly placed and sharply jutting rock, each uniquely colored plant, every lunge over a downed tree, and of course the panoramic views – everything really just made you feel in some way stronger or more enthused than you were previously.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">Like other things though, these 'new' attractions lost their luster after a day or so - those same rocks and downed trees now had become much less than ‘invigorating.’</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">However, I do not mean to imply that the experiential nature of the hike was somehow diminished. In fact, in retrospect I think it actually got better. This is because I began to realize where the actual memorable experiences could be found – ironically in the ordinary events.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">Sure, the ‘Kodak’ moments continued to be the panoramic views and the unique rock formations, but the things I remember most without having to pull up a photo are that which took place during the steps between the breath-taking views. I can clearly recall the simplicity and joy of making breakfast in the tent and bumbling over the ‘misplaced’ rocks and cracking jokes or sharing views on life with my friend.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">Yes, it’s true – it is these unremarkable moments where the memories lie.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">And so, again after some consideration, my understanding of the experience on the AT is translatable to life in general… Perhaps it is the ‘other than ordinary’ events in life that provide the framework for meaning and memory to be found in the ordinary.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Calibri; "><o:p>A</o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; ">s always, thanks for reading. :)</span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-69064195389592433552011-05-25T08:37:00.000-07:002011-05-25T08:46:31.009-07:00Other Than Ordinary: Short Thoughts On A Long Hike<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCrYfsDeYjf10Ns45HOR2bZGZDprltSHm1VKlAa354tvvHiu6OzThNOYI68s2pFUHSetrrjtHhKruyM7y8CYzYWn584xX_zxwQmbpO3VjhyphenhyphenEgU5ofP7PK6nXeCahSdJPe9tQw40MfJGg/s1600/DSCN1828.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCrYfsDeYjf10Ns45HOR2bZGZDprltSHm1VKlAa354tvvHiu6OzThNOYI68s2pFUHSetrrjtHhKruyM7y8CYzYWn584xX_zxwQmbpO3VjhyphenhyphenEgU5ofP7PK6nXeCahSdJPe9tQw40MfJGg/s200/DSCN1828.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610679551068711986" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">"The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences."</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div class="im"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">— Chris McCandless</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; "></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Every year, thousands of folks from Maine to Georgia set out on hikes along the Appalachian Trail. The length of planned hikes span the entire spectrum of a couple hours to a couple months – and that is just the way it should be. This is because one of the coolest things about the trail is that it is as long as (if not longer than) you want it to be and just as short – with everything in between. A wilderness experience exactly fitting to your comfort level is at your ‘toe’tips, and does not have to be limited by your age, physical condition, or prior experience.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; ">So, just like all those other folks, I too just returned from an ‘extended stay’ hiking trip on the AT myself – and decided to write a little reflection on the experience. (I love writing in this regard because it seems to enrich my experience by contemplating it and then trying to describe it to other people.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></p></div><div class="im"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.9pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 12.9pt; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Not to worry, this won’t be another treatise decrying the </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">materialistic nature of today’s society, the information overload that we experience daily, or some self-pining for the ‘simple life.’ Those kinds of comments are too common and in my opinion obvious and alienating.</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.9pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 12.9pt; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">On the last day of the hike, in the rain and wet, I kept asking myself one simple question, “why hike at all?” Seriously, why do people anywhere go out and seek solitude, remove themselves from the comforts of home, and push their own personal envelope to challenge themselves?</span></p><div class="im"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.9pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 12.9pt; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">I could only come up with one answer: because it’s something other than what is ordinary.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12.9pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 12.9pt; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Let me explain.</span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">I read an inspiring book quite a while back by Donald Miller called </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Million-Miles-Thousand-Years-Learned/dp/0785213066/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268337366&sr=8-1" target="_blank">A Million Miles In A Thousand Years</a>. Like most books, it seems your brain remembers a couple key points (if you are lucky) and then also whether or not you enjoyed the reading. Well, I definitely did, and the point which I remember was the encouragement the author expresses to live your life as a story – one that is worth telling. So, in my own words - don’t be satisfied with the ordinary.</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">There are so many things in my life which I do because they make sense and they are comfortable – and I’d be surprised if I was alone in this regard. Now don’t get me wrong, I think most comforts we seek daily are good, it is just sometimes nice to push yourself in the opposite direction, to purposely test your mettle and ‘man-up’ to your own little challenges here and there. To add some flare to your story!</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><div class="im"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">I think this quote from the book kind of sums it up:</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> - “Part of me wonders if our stories aren’t being stolen by the easy life.”</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">Well a hike on the AT is anything but the easy life!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">So that’s it. As you are out on the trail smelling like bad Chinese food, your legs are feeling like you just completed a marathon, you are sweating as if you were sitting in a sauna, you are also all the while smiling because you are challenging yourself in ways that will certainly kick your story up a notch.</span></p><div class="im"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">And so, just like I realized on this particular long hike, I will continue to search for ways to something other than ordinary – and I hope anyone who reads this will do just the same.</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; "></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">As always, thanks for reading. AMDG </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings; ">J</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> </span></p></div></span>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-61301309502371622592011-05-02T07:04:00.000-07:002011-05-04T06:32:47.312-07:00An Hour Late, But Right On Time: Considering My First Marathon Experience<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1r0EUook3Z6BIYLLntSH6m3gUMMbYz-tFTpiwe25Rgr-XoENc6Qpk0XYE60mIJRjASwuDqjOfRG7c17YImiigB3C0pwrqLMY0__dTAMzGJdrClhmfNqzeg7lhYjSiX8iwxsKZzgLUqgU/s1600/DSCN1705.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1r0EUook3Z6BIYLLntSH6m3gUMMbYz-tFTpiwe25Rgr-XoENc6Qpk0XYE60mIJRjASwuDqjOfRG7c17YImiigB3C0pwrqLMY0__dTAMzGJdrClhmfNqzeg7lhYjSiX8iwxsKZzgLUqgU/s200/DSCN1705.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602853393673751330" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>Yesterday, I finished my first marathon. 26.2 whole miles traversed in one attempt in nothing but a pair of shoes (well, and a few other choice pieces of clothing of course). I could go on and on about the rigors of the training or the hours spent doing something other than what I ‘wanted to be doing,’ but I want to focus on one aspect of my experience that was so impactful for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>A modest estimate of how late I finished after my ‘time-goal’ is about 1 hour. If you had asked me at mile 13 how I felt about this, I’d probably have given you a terse censorable response about how pissed I was that I wasn’t performing at the level ‘I felt I was capable.’ What happened over the course of the next 2 miles, and then thankfully carried over for the rest of the race, was something very special for me indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>I got over myself. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>I somehow was humbled by 13 or so miles of self-induced pain and realized that I needed an attitude adjustment – or I don’t think I would have made it the next 13. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>I realized that just finishing in a reasonable time would be just as fulfilling because the only person who was really concerned about such issues was me. I thought to myself, “Come on Joe, this is your first marathon, RELAX! There will be many opportunities to get a better ‘finish time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>This realization allowed me to focus on so much more, on the truly incredible things that were going on around me. I realized that there are many more people than I can count who would do many (if not anything) to be able to even compete in such an event. I also realized that just participating afforded me a profound lens into human nature that one doesn’t normally get to use - that thousands of people around me were all willing to work toward a difficult goal and <i>really </i>push themselves - going beyond a <i>reasonable</i> concept of effort to reach said goal. And then thirdly, the amazing nature of support that so many volunteers exhibited, who could have otherwise enjoyed a very pleasant Sunday – but instead came out to perform such undeniably important yet small things to assist strangers/runners/athletes accomplish ‘something.’ <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>In retrospect, if I had been too focused on 'keeping my pace' to finish on time, I am sure I would have missed all of these things. Recognizing these and more allowed me to enjoy the rest of the race more than I thought possible – all except about the last 1.5 miles when I was really hurting – and do so with a smile on my face at the wonder all around. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>I could go on and on about how this experience transcends the actual nature of the race itself… but I’m sure you can do that just as well as I can.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>On Friday, I quoted Emil Zatopek – a famous Czech runner – on my facebook page who said:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>-</span><span> </span><span>“<a name="_GoBack"></a>… If you want to experience something, run a marathon.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span>At that time I skeptically hoped he was right. One day later, I am happy to say that he was right on.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">As always, thanks for reading :) A.M.D.G.</span></p><p></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-37136005090971860792011-03-14T18:56:00.001-07:002011-03-19T19:10:44.418-07:00Is there anything enjoyable about training for a marathon?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEXICUAGeRP8Fv17zH1PnjIl9NKQ55OQnA_H30nszPIj45HARBCB1vcNZOMYBLgLh61D7x7CtmlHmPuOFaci6i73mX0uKD2JApMe5JcLOtbonqMlNJsc0KwXObdmHVH649BdwikVUoHc/s1600/run.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEXICUAGeRP8Fv17zH1PnjIl9NKQ55OQnA_H30nszPIj45HARBCB1vcNZOMYBLgLh61D7x7CtmlHmPuOFaci6i73mX0uKD2JApMe5JcLOtbonqMlNJsc0KwXObdmHVH649BdwikVUoHc/s200/run.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584120920935387618" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">What’s the best part of running?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Yeah, I know… that’s a loaded question. I bet most people, upon reading that will answer the same way I did for so many years: nothing – or perhaps you like the hours of boredom spent putting one foot in front of the other.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I’m kidding of course. I actually really enjoy running these days. Admittedly, I don’t think I ever thought I would write that sentence. However, over the last few months while training for a marathon, I have found there is an odd peace that comes with the rhythm of stepping along down the road with only you and your thoughts to keep you occupied. In this same way, one of the best parts of having this opportunity to train has been listening to the radio.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I’m not talking about # # . # FM or some other music station; I’m talking about radio programs that are specifically produced for the listener’s education and/or entertainment.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Now, I know what you are thinking – the concept of listening to those kinds of radio programs went out of style somewhere around the age of the hippies – probably about the same time TV was developed. I’ll concede that point, yet over this time period I have found there are a few things you just can’t get from TV that oddly enough, these radio programs provide.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Podcasts are where it’s at. These things are so available these days, you can literally download a piece on nearly anything you can imagine. I have listened to a 2 minute parody on Charlie Sheen’s latest antics to 20 minutes on the folly of the </span></span><st1:stockticker><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">BCS</span></span></st1:stockticker><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> to 60 minutes on why cats are such intriguing animals.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Part of the beauty – there are no commercials, it is just listening and thinking from start to finish.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">This kind of sheds light on one of the other things that annoys me about TV – you have to sit and watch, w/out the availability to do much else. Sure, people are walking on treadmills at the gym watching TV these days, but you have to be inside a gym and walking on a treadmill. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Lame-oh.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">With the radio/mp3 player, it is so easily portable. You can accomplish so much while learning something – you can run outside or do laundry inside, or really whatever it is you do.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">However, the most enjoyable aspect of this medium of information versus TV has been the engaging nature of the radio. It’s the same reason that we get so much more out of “reading a book over merely watching the movie.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I know in my mind that I am not really having a 2-person conversation while listening to these podcasts, but the nature of not being able to see the presenter – only listen – invites one to use their imagination to construct that scenario in your mind.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I can’t really remember that last time I left the couch after watching something on TV where I actually felt like that really had an impact on me – it seems that since with TV you aren’t required to use your imagination at all, you just don’t remember things nearly as well. I feel like I can remember nearly everything I have listened to over this training period, and with minimal effort.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I no longer dread the 3+ hour long runs which are required during the training regimen that I dreaded before I started this program. Crazily, they are almost enjoyable now…</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Relax, I said almost.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Thanks for reading </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings; "><span>J</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-77316716197799960382011-03-09T19:22:00.000-08:002011-03-09T19:27:55.186-08:00What is the deal with Ash Wednesday?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIbeQ2XwOuJOCZbvW5DDOT2WDJU8yREPwOBfsLjEUmxY22dwVEwj5_FF4U4V1KSmy0OZo1i9ry3DpQP0wdD9MNOHZPkhdExGuvGV_iauFm81N36fHgq5NrMpv0y-lI3uqWPQuCqknRgQ/s1600/ash.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIbeQ2XwOuJOCZbvW5DDOT2WDJU8yREPwOBfsLjEUmxY22dwVEwj5_FF4U4V1KSmy0OZo1i9ry3DpQP0wdD9MNOHZPkhdExGuvGV_iauFm81N36fHgq5NrMpv0y-lI3uqWPQuCqknRgQ/s200/ash.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582287766915906642" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">As most of you know by now by getting “ashed” or seeing a bunch of folks walking around with black marks on their heads, today was Ash Wednesday. I’m certain that this tradition goes back thousands of years, yet it seems that many of those who participate and then also many of those who don’t seem to misunderstand the purpose of the day and the tradition itself. As one of those who were “ashed,” I had a few questions (and puzzled looks thrown my way) today at the hospital. In honor of those questions, I thought I’d write a quick reflection on my understanding of the tradition and why I choose to be a part of the celebration.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">The questions were: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">- Why do you feel like you have to demonstrate a “holier than thou” sign all day?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">- Who needs those ashes or Ash Wednesday anyway?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I assure you, over the many years of participating in this tradition and then also quite a few of not; I have often thought of these same questions myself. Yet today, I am excited about this season of Lent.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">First of all, I will admit - there is a certain comfort I feel when I see others with the same sign on their heads. However, this comfort is largely outweighed the simple fact I don’t put ashes on my head so others can be comforted or so I can demonstrate that I am a Christian.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">In fact, I celebrate Ash Wednesday because of what it does for me.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Wearing the ashes gives me an opportunity to admit to all of those around me that I am a sinner – or if discussion of sin is foreign to you – that I am not perfect and I am not special. This is difficult to admit over and over throughout the day, but at the same time, it is incredibly liberating and humbling. I am making an outward sign that I commit myself to as much reflection/prayer/repentance in the next 40 days as I can handle.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I am excited for Lent because this yearly season gives me an incredible opportunity to reflect on life as an ongoing conversion – that I must continue to evaluate myself and my actions if I truly wish to model myself after the person I claim to model myself after.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">We are constantly bombarded with messages these days that encourage us to seek titles and degrees and money, we have all the bells and whistles to achieve our wildest hopes and dreams. These are all good things. However, I wish to not lose site of the fact that no matter what I achieve in this lifetime, I am ultimately a natural being – and one day my body will be lying in a casket – and return to dust or ash.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">That is an overwhelmingly sobering thought; I better not get wrapped up in myself.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Thus I accept to have this mark placed right on my head, coincidentally the same location where the thoughts that spawn good and even bad develop. I believe that if I commit myself to construct these thoughts after the person represented by this cross, I can’t go wrong.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Thus, in response to the second question of who needs Ash Wednesday or even Lent for that matter – the answer is simple…</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I do </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Wingdings; ">J</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:#333333"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-86464378153982034782011-02-22T04:39:00.001-08:002011-02-22T04:41:20.393-08:00The Science of God - Personal Conclusions<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Having written all of those thoughts regarding Dr. Schroeder’s book, I don’t think my understanding of them would have been complete without at least trying to explore my own faith on these matters.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">First, it seems clear to me that I was obviously impressed with Dr. Schroeder’s attempt to take his expertise in mathematics and physics and try to apply them to his apparent firmly held faith system. Based on my reading, I will surely look at conflict between believers and nonbelievers in a different light from now on. One thing I did note though after having finished the book a few weeks ago now, is that perhaps the science he uses is not as soundly supported as he claims – this is alluded to many times by the author of the response website linked in the third post. Although perhaps unfortunate, it is the truth. Even still, I’d say the key for me having read all of these thoughts is that the book of Genesis is not clear cut when describing the origins of our universe, and there is much room on both sides of the line for virtually infinite discussion and understanding. However, this is also not a problem for me as a believer because the detailed description of the natural world does not impact the message of Jesus, nor does it impact my hope for Salvation. As Christians or as whatever we are – we can’t have fear of science, science discovery, or scientific thought.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">I was actually comforted in a similar way when doing a bit of research on the Catholic Church’s teaching on these matters when I found this from Pope Leo XIII:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height: 150%;font-family:Arial">“N<span class="apple-style-span">o real disagreement can exist between the theologian and the scientist provided each keeps within his own limits. . . . If nevertheless there is a disagreement . . . it should be remembered that the sacred writers, or more truly ‘the Spirit of God who spoke through them, did not wish to teach men such truths (as the inner structure of visible objects) which do not help anyone to salvation’; and that, for this reason, rather than trying to provide a scientific exposition of nature, they sometimes describe and treat these matters either in a somewhat figurative language or as the common manner of speech those times required, and indeed still requires nowadays in everyday life, even amongst most learned people" (Leo XIII,<i>Providentissimus Deus</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><span class="apple-style-span">18).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">And as the Catechism states it:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">“Methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things the of the faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are" (</span></span><st1:stockticker><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">CCC</span></span></st1:stockticker><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; "> 159).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">It is with this framework in mind that I will continue to hope that the two sides continue to converge to some similarly shared wisdom. In fact, here is a passage from the Catechism which describes how that convergence will occur: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">"Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth" (<i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">159).</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">And continuing with my understanding of Faith through the Catholic Christian lens, I often wondered throughout my reading if the Church actually had at some point specifically addressed the origins of the universe. I was again very happy to have found that t<span class="apple-style-span">he Catholic Church actually encourages this type of research:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">- "The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers" <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>(Catechism of the Catholic Church 283).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">I find it even more interesting that the first person to propose the Big Bang theory was actually a Catholic priest.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">It seems that the Church does not require too much from its believers with regard to these nebulous matters. However, t<span class="apple-style-span">he Church does require that we maintain that no matter what one believes, it is only through the power of God that it occurred. Concerning human evolution, the Church concedes that our bodies could have been evolved from some previous form (through God’s guidance) and inherited from our parents, it is not a question that whether or not there was <i>special </i>creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII addressed this specifically:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">The teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">Humani Generis</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">36).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">I am most excited by the discoveries of these supports of Catholic Church’s teaching because it is clear that the Church has no fear of science or scientific discovery – my hope all along.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">So that concludes my exploration of the book The Science of God and my search for understanding as a Catholic Christian. As I have oft quoted experts throughout these words, I felt it would be appropriate to quote a few of the people who I have had conversations with regarding the different matters since beginning this writing.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">MS: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">“Just goes to show that with any belief system, it's necessary to ascribe to a number of relatively arbitrary assertions, such as those outlined above. You simply need to walk into the "faith store", a la Baskin-Robbins, and decide what flavor you like.”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">AP: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">“The more I think about it, the more I feel that in order to prove/disprove the existence of God, you would have to understand the entire workings of the "Universe". When it began, how it began, what was before it (if anything), the true extent of the Universe (what is past the edge of it), if it is really a Universe or is it a Multiverse, why is the speed of light the Universal speed limit, what dark matter is, how rare or common life is, what the purpose of the Universe is, etc… ad infinitum. Basically, you would have to be omniscient. Therefore, I believe only someone with the power or knowledge of God could prove/disprove his existence.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">AM:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: 150%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family: Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: Arial; ">“These concepts get at something I have felt for quite a while as a Christian - It i</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">s how an individual acts that determines the clarity by which that individual realizes the unifying base of existence. In fact God explicitly tells the Israelites that their being chosen is not b/c they have inherently superior virtues as a people, prayer and sacrifices to the JudeoChristian God are not to induce changes in the deity as in other religions, but in the offerer. As Christians are now the “new </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">,” I think that I would be wise to keep this in mind – I am not better than anyone because of my Faith.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Amen to all of that. Thanks for reading. AMDG </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"><o:p></o:p></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-26972113532234574212011-02-19T13:02:00.000-08:002011-02-19T13:03:30.627-08:00The Science of God - V<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">And as a final entry, this would be the 5<sup>th</sup> regarding Dr. Schroeder’s book The Science of God. I hope you have enjoyed reading (that is if you have been reading) and I also hope these thoughts spark introspection in your own life as they have certainly done in mine. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">In Genesis, chapter 26 describes God as creating humans, yet chapter 27 goes further and describes God infusing the human soul w/in humankind. My first thought on reading this was “wait, I never read that in the Bible.” Comparatively based on the original Hebrew text, he states that the heavens and earth were “made” but humans were “created.” This is interesting because according to their etymology, “create” is to generate something from nothing – a contrast to “make” which means to fashion from some sort of raw material. In as much, the universe was first created… and then made. However, in the case of the Biblical person Adam, the reverse order is true – he was made (Ch 26) and then created (Ch 27). Through this translation, there was perhaps some unknown time period between the completion of him being made and then at which time his body was infused with the soul. Schroeder draws a connection between this ambiguous timeline and cave drawings that pre-date Adam – making them understandable from a Biblical perspective. According to Dr. Schroeder and his supporters, there quite easily (and the Bible does not discount this possibility) could have human like beings on the earth doing human like things, yet, they had no soul, or human spirituality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Schroeder states that scientists date the beginning of history (as opposed to prehistory) at the beginning of time when writing was established – not writing with an alphabet but with writing in the form of pictographs and other forms/symbols. There is little doubt that this took place in ancient </span><st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Mesopotamia</span></st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"> – there is also little doubt that this is the part of the planet that was the home of the Biblical person Abraham. The bible also says that Adam was <i>created</i> (soul infusion variety) 5-6 thousand years before Abraham, the exact range of dates at which writing in the form of these pictographs were first started. This is all according to Dr. Schroeder’s book, yet I have not been able to find a website which discounts this support.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Transitioning now to the concept of free will, I know from discussions over the years that at the very least, some Christian denominations believe in predestination – however, it is interesting to me that some scientists believe the same thing. Dr. Schroeder however points out some flaws in this understanding. First, he concedes that free will is difficult to understand from a cursory glance using the physics we experience daily… that experiential physics is deterministic – in that if you toss up a ball, you can be certain it will fall back down. The question that one has to ask is whether or not this experience transcends all levels of existence?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">The answer is no. There are in fact physics observations that occur on a daily basis that in fact do not follow this pattern. In college physics, we studied the wave-particle duality principle of light. Basically, this principle shows that light travels in packets of energy called photons which exhibit the normal pattern of motion in waves – the predictable motion that is easy to conceptualize. However, at the exact same time, these same packets of energy act as individual particles as well, and will unpredictably interfere with each other if sent through a tiny opening. We don’t experience this principle of light on a daily basis, but just like this puzzling observation, there are many subatomic forces impacting our daily life that we don’t assume b/c we don’t “experience” them. In the same way, it is conceivable to argue that this unpredictability is present in our understanding of human biology, physiology, and genetics because the observations made in those fields of study are governed by the laws of physics.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">One aspect of God that I have always had trouble understanding is the passage that states that God knew me before I even existed – this doesn’t exactly jive with my experiential understanding of time. However, Dr. Schroeder addresses just such a concept in a similar way to his understanding of the first six days of creation – using Einstein’s theory of relativity. When God says “I was, I am, and I will be,” God is stating that he is Eternal and the creator of the universe, therefore also in existence outside of <i>time</i> as we know it. To understand this using relativity, Schroeder describes a beam of light that was shot out at the big bang – and well, traveling at the speed of light. Now imagine that you high-jacked that energy and were speeding along with that light. Immediately you decide to slow down in order to read this blog post. According to the generally accepted theory, virtually no time would have elapsed – you would be living in nearly the same instant now as when you started out. This is hard to imagine, but relativity states that speed and time are constant – the faster speed the slower the time, and vice versa. By this line of reasoning, it would thus be possible that to God everything has already happened yet at the same time has yet to take place. There is no difference in the absolute quantity of time, only a difference in the quality of time (or in how one experiences it).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">There are two more points Dr. Schroeder makes in his book that I would like to explore. The first is the often said/heard phrase “if God is so good, why do such bad things happen in the world?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Perhaps if something really terrible happened to me, I may express this same sentiment. However, I hope that I would be able to reason and perhaps understand it on a level that Dr. Schroeder discusses. He first quotes the Bible in that “it is for us to learn how to react to the bad as well as the good even if we can not understand its purpose.” Thus, it is our challenge to figure out justice and truth in all events. It is interesting to note that the natural capacity of the human brain can store nearly the information contained in a 50 million volume encyclopedia – if that is true, it can probably handle the understanding necessary to overcome these types of challenges. Dr. Schroeder states that it is the randomness of the universe that allows for sanity – for if it were not for the randomness in our experience of the world, everything would be predetermined by unyielding laws of nature. This would be a world no one would wish for, a world where we would be mere robots to our body’s chemistry and the condition of our environment.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">And finally Dr. Schroeder discusses what is so unique about the planet Earth, why is it such a special place for life to exist? According to him, the universe is somewhere between 10 to 18 billion light years in scale, and our galaxy is just a tiny blip on that large map. There are millions of large cosmic bodies orbiting and hurtling through space out there somewhere, yet one aspect of our galaxy that is so special is that the Milky Way’s planets and moons have virtually swept clean most of the space through which Earth must travel – literally giving us a clear path to orbit in without the daily risk of slamming in to some wayward cosmic mass. And in the same way, Earth unexpectedly does not fall into the normal exponential distribution of distance from the Sun which each of the other planets in our universe ascribe to. In fact, each of the planets is roughly 2x further away from the preceding planet than that planet was from its predecessor. The Earth is the only planet in the solar system that disobeys this distribution, yet it is clearly to our benefit.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">And then there is the miracle of the sun. It is precisely the right size to consume its supply of hydrogen and produce energy at a rate that provided the time and conditions for life to form. Earth’s orbit around the sun is more circular than most of the other planets, but it is still 3% off of being a true circle – this is important because had it been a bit more elliptical like many of the other Milky-Way planets, we would be experiencing drastic alternations between baking and then freezing depending on where we were in relation to the solar body.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Even more, our planet’s core is made of molten iron – the effects of which are drastically important yet go unnoticed by most of us. The molten iron ensures that the center of the earth contains just enough internal radioactivity to produce a virtual magnetic umbrella that deflects an otherwise lethal dose of solar wind. Not only does it provide this protection, but it also has given rise to the volcanic activity present on Earth that has been responsible for the release of the subterranean waters necessary for life – however, it has been so well balanced as to not shroud the planet with dust.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">The force of Gravity is so perfectly balanced so as to hold on to the needed gases of our atmosphere but weak enough to allow lighter noxious gases to escape into space. Not only this, but we are so perfectly spaced from the Sun that the battle between evaporation of those water vapors and gravitational return of the same vapors ever so gently favors the gravitational return.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">These and much more facts about how we exist within the universe really make living in our world so much more special. Dr. Roger Penrose, a well respected physicist and mathematician has stated that the odds of all of these cosmic realities occurring in the way they have in order to sustain life as they do is a number nearly to difficult to grasp – 1 in 10<sup>10^123</sup> . To speak this number aloud would take longer to say than there has been time since the big bang. In light of all these delicately yet imperatively important facts about our world, we are truly not dependent on the Earth alone, but we are certainly children of the cosmos.</span></p><div style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 2.25pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">So that’s about it with regard to Dr. Schroeder’s book. I hope you have enjoyed reading all of these thought as much as I have enjoyed typing and exploring them on my end. I look forward to possibly talking about these things again sometime, but until then… <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">AMDG </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family: Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-35387404383000088642011-02-17T04:20:00.000-08:002011-02-17T04:21:10.824-08:00The Science of God - IV<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">This would be the 4<sup>th</sup> entry regarding Dr. Schroeder’s book, The Science of God. Very interesting stuff to me here… of course as I mentioned in the most recent entry, there are many responses to his work and opinions litter the web with ideas contrary and in support of similar ideas. I would encourage a quick google search of those pages if one might be interested.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">One of the underlying themes that Dr. Schroeder keeps coming back to is the issue of time – could the complexity of current life forms have arisen by random genetic events in the 70 million years during which all phyla appear based on our fossil record. According to his mathematics, he says the answer is simple – no.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">In this way, he discusses one of the most commonly heard supports from the creationist camp as to proof that evolution in the Darwinian sense is false. Dr. Schroeder’s effort has been the only thoughtful argument to that effect I have yet heard – and I am at least willing to concede that he may be partially correct. This argument is based on the fact that there are functionally similar components found in different species within different phyla – specifically the eye/complex visual systems which are present in 5 different body systems. According to Dr. Schroeder’s calculations, the chances of the correct amino acids arranging themselves in the correct pattern 5 different times to produce this similar functionality is 1 in 10<sup>127 ^ 5</sup> – this number is really just not conceptual.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Dr. Schroeder does concede however that the chances are greatly enhanced if in fact the functional components were the result of a common ancestor. The problem lies in the fact that they don’t have a common ancestor – at least evidence of one has never been found. He discusses for example the octopus eye vs the vertebrae eye. Though the respective eyes are nearly the same in function, the octopus eye comes from optically sensitive skin cells and the vertebrae eye comes from optically sensitive brain cells. This seemingly small difference actually establishes a whole host of structural and genetic differences – without compromising function. Dr. Schroeder again assimilates the chances of amino acids aligning themselves in such a way in two different genetic lines to produce such complex and efficient function would be similar to the probability of randomly producing a Shakespearian sonnet by random typing.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">Moreover, consider the 2<sup>nd</sup> law of thermodynamics – which states that everything in nature has pressure to move from a state of order to a state of disorder. This is the “chaos theory” (i.e. why a cup of tea cools when sitting on a table by itself or why the same cup when it falls on the floor and breaks does not and will not reassemble). By that reasoning, the progression of life from simple organisms to more complex organisms has been an upstream battle the whole time. Dr. Schroeder states that if biology is governed by the laws of physics – which is certainly is – the process becomes even more unlikely. However, as Schroeder also notes, just like in our daily experience, the transition from disorder to order is not impossible if the system has direction or management. Just like the understanding of the word “day” in the book of Genesis, if one were to go back to Hebrew writing, apparently the transition from “night to day” can actually be translated “order to disorder.” The following website describes how this translation is possible better than I can here:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><a href="http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/day.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" >http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/day.html</span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Since biology is governed by the laws of physics, nearly (if not) everything – and especially evolution by random mutation – can be boiled down to probability. The result of this fact would be that these processes would not have an ultimate goal – they come about by chance, like flipping a coin. I think Dr. Schroeder has a good point when he states that our current level of order w/in human beings and other complex life-form is rather improbable if not impossible when considered with the 70 million year timeline and the 2<sup>nd</sup> law of thermodynamics. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">As always, thanks for reading. </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family: Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"> AMDG</span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-574043571335958112011-02-11T05:05:00.001-08:002011-02-14T05:44:18.036-08:00The Science of God - III<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:13.3pt"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">This is the 3<sup>rd</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>post regarding Dr. Gerald Schroeder’s book on The Science of God, but if you haven’t read any of the others, please note that this is not an intention to proselytize.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><u2:p></u2:p>I have to begin at the outset of this section with a disclaimer of sorts. As I was writing these thoughts, I began to kind of question the substance of <i>their</i> truth as well. Since I certainly can’t speak as an expert on quantum physics or the theory of relativity, I began to consider if I could be perhaps being somewhat persuaded and impressed not only by Schroeder’s thoughts but also his presentation of complex math. I consequently spent some time with Google and found that indeed, there are many web-pages which discuss these same topics – all running the gambit as to which viewpoint they espouse. There was one however, which reasoned from a similar mathematical viewpoint. I have included the link below. I encourage all interested to read that author’s response – he/she does not does not discount the that science can be used to discuss the existence of God, however, does attempt to discount the particular points of reason as presented by Dr. Schroeder.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><a href="http://www.talkreason.org/articles/schroeder.cfm">http://www.talkreason.org/articles/schroeder.cfm</a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Nonetheless, as I have quoted before, Medieval philosopher Maimonides: “A superficial understanding of astronomy and physics leads to a superficial understanding of God’s management of it.”</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">In this section of the book, I was particularly interested in Dr. Schroeder’s discussion on the well known six-day creation story – specifically that it may not actually be six days as you and I might think of them. This argument rests on the understanding that those debated six days are not in fact written from an Earth based perspective of time – that is, the perspective which we share with each other. This difference has many implications.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">According to Schroeder, if the ‘time’ described by one of these ‘days’ is written from the perception of the singularity at which the creation of the universe was occurring, time would be moving at a much more rapid pace. Moreover, based on laboratory data recorded by scientists in the present day, the rate of radiation taking place during this “creation period” is in fact 10<sup>12</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>times faster than the radiation waves of today – this would in effect result in time passing at a rate of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>million-million x faster<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>than the current concept of time. Thus, one minute to us would be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>million-million</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>minutes from this cosmic perspective, the Dinosaurs presence on the Earth for 120 million years would have only been about 1 hour. What is doubly interesting is that according to Schroeder, if you divide the 15 billion years of the universe’s history by the cosmic quotient of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>million-million</i>, you get an age of about 6 days.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u1:p></u1:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">What is the Biblical basis for such an understanding? In the book of Genesis, Dr. Schroeder points out the clue which says that before this six day period, “the Earth was unformed.” This makes it plausible to reason that it would be difficult to base and understanding of time from our human Earth based perspective if in fact during this six ‘day’ period there were no real one location from which to reference time. </span><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">The other Biblical support for such a viewpoint is surrounded by much more controversy – the understanding of the length of time intended to describe when the original authors used the word ‘day.’ To get the true meaning, one must go to the source - the original Hebrew text as it was written (before anything may have been lost in translation). I can’t read Hebrew, so I have to rely on the work of others. Upon reading the most accurate translation I could find, it does <i>seem</i> like Genesis presents the day as the 24 hour cycle. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">As a Catholic Christian, I was curious as to what the Church’s response was to such possibility. I found this quote from Pope Pious XII: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; "><span>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; ">"What is the literal sense of a passage is not always as obvious in the speeches and writings of the ancient authors of the East, as it is in the works of our own time. For what they wished to express is not to be determined by the rules of grammar and philology alone, nor solely by the context; the interpreter must, as it were, go back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and with the aid of history, archaeology, ethnology, and other sciences, accurately determine what modes of writing, so to speak, the authors of that ancient period would be likely to use, and in fact did use. For the ancient peoples of the East, in order to express their ideas, did not always employ those forms or kinds of speech which we use today; but rather those used by the men of their times and countries. What those exactly were the commentator cannot determine as it were in advance, but only after a careful examination of the ancient literature of the East" (<i>Divino Afflante Spiritu</i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; ">35–36).</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; "> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I have basically come to the conclusion after much thought that there is ambiguity surrounding this point of contention and much more room for research and introspection – like so many other things though, it will probably still come down to a matter of faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Either way you go, thanks for reading at least… that’s all I got for now. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">:-)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>AMDG</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-11226356228547463182011-02-10T04:37:00.000-08:002011-02-10T05:10:29.271-08:00The Science of God - II<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">So, again, writing about the convergence of science and God and have no intention of proselytizing. Really trying to engage my own mind on these topics by writing them down, and if someone happens to read them, well that makes me happy too…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">According to Schroeder, perhaps the longest held belief which has historically driven a wedge b/w both sides was the debate between the universe being eternal – is it w/out beginning and end? Though now the concept of the big bang is pretty well established in the minds of scientists everywhere, apparently it wasn’t resolved until the mid 20<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century. From Aristotle until Einstein – the large majority of scientists and thinkers strongly argued that belief in a beginning point to the universe was silly. However, it has never been a secret that the Bible claimed this all along. Schroeder notes that Einstein in fact said this misunderstanding in the face of so much evidence that the universe was expanding was the “biggest blunder of his life.” This demonstrates a major shift in thinking within scientific history toward Biblical philosophy - unintentionally to be sure.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Does this shift prove the existence of a Creator? Absolutely not – but it at least gives credence to the possibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Dr. Schroeder then begins to go into the mathematics of certain known scientific realities – yes, a bit abstract but useful nonetheless. He discusses the unlikelihood that carbon, the 4<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>most abundant atom in the universe, would form in such abundant quantities as it requires some pretty unlikely conditions for formation. Apparently it does not exist naturally, it requires the combination of Berrilyium and Helium both at the exactly correct energy level and exactly right distance from each other and a few other unlikelys which get lost in numbers – again, not proving anything, just lending some credence to the possibility of some time of guidance.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Ah, and then Dr. Schroeder goes on to discuss a more familiar topic – the popular understanding of Darwinian evolution and its relation to the fossil record. I hear people throw around the phrases/terms “according to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><st1:city><st1:place>Darwin</st1:place></st1:city></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">” and “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest” all the time, yet I bet few of those folks have read or really understand his theory? Sure, on the surface “survival of the fittest” seems simple and logical, yet reading the mathematical probability associated with this reasoning (at least as presented by Dr. Schroeder) are troubling. For example, the Burgess shale fossil collection is apparently the best known collection of fossils ever found because it demonstrates all five different phyla (or body plans) of current animal life. However, it also apparently demonstrates that all five phyla appeared on the scene w/in a 70 million years span – stark contrast to the proposed two-hundred million years of gradual change described by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><st1:city><st1:place>Darwin</st1:place></st1:city></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">. The difference may not seem like much (70 million vs 200 million), but according to Dr. Schroeder, 70 million years is not enough time for random genetic events to have produced such vastly different phyla – random genetic events or mutations being the foundation of Darwinian evolution.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">The period of time demonstrated in the Burgess shale is better known as the Cambrian explosion, and again the question is whether or not there was sufficient time for such random evolution to occur. Apparently Dr. Schroeder is not alone in his assumption that there was not, as he states the scientific community now believes one of two things: either life was planted here from outer space or there were exotic properties of self-organization<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:stockticker><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><st1:stockticker>AND</st1:stockticker></span></st1:stockticker><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> </span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">self-replication present on Earth in order to bring forth the capacity for life. It’s no secret that many scientists disregard the book of Genesis for one reason or another, but it is worth noting that written millennia prior to any understanding of evolution or modern science – Genesis says that “the earth brought forth life” – cryptically indicating that second possibility from before. Not only that, but in the same book of the Bible, again written millennia prior to our current understanding, there is a correctly described order in which the aspects of life appear - water and then life.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Dr. Schroeder does concede the physical reality which many physicists believe, that given enough time, even apparently miraculous events become possible – such as the spontaneous emergence of a single cell organism from random couplings of chemicals. Yet as a mathematical expert, he knows that it is just very very unlikely. For a better understanding of the sheer odds of such random events leading to the formation of humans, Schroeder quotes a British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle (and I’ll do the same): “Such an occurrence is about as statistically likely as the assemblage of a 747 by a tornado whirly through a junkyard.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">God proven? Nope, not by a long shot. However, it’s worth contemplating that even the simplest forms of life are far too complex w/out some inherent chemical property of molecular self-organization and/or reaction enhancing catalysts at every step of their development – a concept the Bible has no problem with.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Before concluding this section, seems like a quote from before may be appropriate: “Render unto science that which is science’s: a proven method for investigating our universe. But render unto the Bible the search for purpose and the poetry that describes the purpose.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">As always, thanks for reading. :-)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">AMDG.</span></p></span><p></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-31009833007658093952011-01-31T07:23:00.000-08:002011-02-08T14:24:14.332-08:00The Science of God<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">This will be a quick intro to a series of a few posts that I would like to write about what I feel is a seldom spoken about but often thought about topic… where is there - or is there convergence between what we know about the origins of our world/universe from physics and the Biblical creation story. With these words, I by no means intention proselytize – it is actually more of a personal attempt to rationalize my understanding of these concepts. I am writing about it because I feel they probably don’t seem to fit for many folks and at the same time, there is probably some room for open mindedness on both sides of the argument. One has to believe there is always new information to be considered about even our most basically held beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" > <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Given my young career in a heavily evidence based scientific field, I would never dismiss any evidence collected and analyzed in the same way which I myself plan to make decisions after decisions affecting the lives of people’s health. Yet, at the same time, I know in my heart that constantly developing Christian faith has an infinite limit of understanding when it comes to that truth. In this way, after a recent conversation with a friend regarding how one could possibly reconcile belief in both, I realized that he nor I sufficiently were able to support what we were saying with logic. After all these years of education, I felt like that should be remedied. That conversation propelled me on a search for literature on the topics and I luckily stumbled upon the book I plan on writing about: “The Science of God – The Convergence of `Scientific and Biblical Wisdom” by Gerald L Schroeder.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Just some quick background on the author: he is an Orthodox Jew, he is a well respected scientist (having earned his PhD and couple other degrees in nuclear physics and planetary science from MIT), he has written 4 books on this topic. For his work, I am grateful. Regardless of whether he is right or wrong, his effort to seek the truth is inspiring and I hope to emulate that in my own life. At the heart of his thesis, Schroeder attempts to reconcile a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationist" title="Young Earth creationist">young Earth creationist</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Biblical view with the scientific model of a world that is billions of years old. To do this, he analyzes perceived flow of time for a given event in an expanding universe and that it varies with the observer’s perspective of that event. Certainly a difficult feat, and to do this he critiques the two perspectives numerically, calculating the effect of the stretching of space-time, based on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein" title="Einstein">Einstein</a>'s theory of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity" title="General relativity">general relativity</a>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Next time I’ll get into some of the nitty gritty of his book, (like the beginning of time, the existence of the dinosaurs, the concept of 6 days of creation…) but as a lead to set the stage, here is a quote from a philosopher that Schroeder quotes a couple times named Maimonides:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 78.75pt; text-indent: -42.75pt; line-height: 150%; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family: Arial">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%; font-family:Arial">“…conflicts between science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a defective understanding of the Bible. Acknowledged experts in science may assume that although scientific research requires diligent intellectual effort, biblical wisdom can be attained through a simple reading of the Bible. Conversely, theologians who have devoted decades to plumbing the depths of Biblical wisdom often satisfy their scientific curiosity through articles in the popular press and then assume they can evaluate the validity of such discoveries. The opposition is viewed with a level of knowledge at a high school pre-high school level. No wonder the other side seems superficial, even naive… It is time for the religious believer to render unto Einstein that which is Einstein’s … and colleagues who follow in the footsteps of Einstein would do well to render unto the Bible that which is the Bible’s, the search for purpose” because science has its limitations when discussing the “why” of life… <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; "><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">And of course, thanks for reading. </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family: Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; "><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">AMDG<o:p></o:p></span></p></span><p></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-12076805335706067372010-12-11T08:07:00.000-08:002010-12-11T10:05:43.628-08:00Be Like the Moon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVH_8CviqcTKmHlYYsEf4HLyNMvWOvnJYHJDl_9ObcerKAgXqFvJ2h-4OeR5XgWRKMWZ8xebHdB-h0mG5G-PmNzH0vjKEfwXz1f3qP-VwIlpEcn1AWS8IjBejUhOiS9haoBfBdWgJHdo/s1600/moon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVH_8CviqcTKmHlYYsEf4HLyNMvWOvnJYHJDl_9ObcerKAgXqFvJ2h-4OeR5XgWRKMWZ8xebHdB-h0mG5G-PmNzH0vjKEfwXz1f3qP-VwIlpEcn1AWS8IjBejUhOiS9haoBfBdWgJHdo/s200/moon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549487373058310690" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 18px; ">In a book called A LONG WAY GONE written by Ishmael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Beah</span> about his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, there is a quote which stuck with me -</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 18px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "><span style="font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 18px; ">"We must strive to be like the moon... people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold. But, no one grumbles when the moon shines. Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way. Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night. A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines..."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I guess one could interpret this in quite a few ways after finishing the book, but to me it is simply saying -</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; ">Don't be like the sun - occasionally scorching those who stand too long in your presence.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Don't be like the rain - leaving people uncomfortable and wishing to escape to some shelter.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; ">Be an agent of tranquility and peace in the world, bring out the best in others, basically - just be like the moon.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; ">:-) As always, thanks for reading. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">AMDG</span>.</span></div></div>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-54597740617512719862010-11-29T04:45:00.000-08:002010-11-29T14:56:35.404-08:00The Assault on Reason<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Saying former VP Al Gore and I see eye to eye on everything would be quite an overstatement, but there are a few things... probably more than few. Actually, one issue which he has written about I am in full support of. In his book “The Assault on Reason” he describes, among other things, how “television’s quasi-hypnotic effect is one reason that the political economy <span>supported by the television industry” has (among other things) polarized us and changed political discussion from its more intelligent past.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Unfortunately, I find this to be true in my own interaction with the TV. It’s really uncomfortably refreshing to turn on one of the cable news stations and hear them talking about something I agree with – and the complete opposite when I don’t. When considered, it seems obvious that these cable news stations, while providing “news,” mostly are businesses attempting to sell their product just as much as McDonalds wants you to buy a hamburger. It seems the <i>result of watching these programs consistently</i> is not original ideas and thoughtful discussion, but virtually regurgitated opinions of charismatic talking heads, and this (like Mr. Gore describes) is assaulting our ability to reason.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Perhaps the following quote from the book can help sum it up:</span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="margin-left:78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;line-height: normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><span>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">“Our systematic exposure to fear and other arousal stimuli on television can be exploited by the clever public relations specialist, advertiser, or politician…”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">This fear can be attached to you name it: taxes, gays, religion, war, etc… It is easy to see ourselves or people we know respond with deeply emotive responses to such topics. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">I am not trying to state that visual media is all bad. Indeed I agree again with how Mr. Gore states it: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="margin-left:45.0pt;text-indent:-9.0pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">- “visual images—pictures, graphs, cartoons, and computer models— communicate information about the climate crisis at a level deeper than words alone could convey. Similarly, the horrifying pictures that came back to us from both </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Vietnam</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> and the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> war helped facilitate shifts in public sentiment against failing wars that needed to end.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">These are important things to be disseminated, without a doubt, but when they are repeatedly driven at emotive responses, and we let ourselves be taken by them - it crosses the line. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial">Of course, Gore goes on to bash President Bush and the GOP which I felt was a bit unnessecary, but when using it as an example, it helps to drive home his major point.</span></p> <p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial">I find the best way to discover my own thoughts on an issue is to read; read an article or a book. Reading does still enable the "trapping" </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">into regurgitated opinions, but it sure does a better job of encouraging thought.</span></p><p class="NormalWeb1" style="line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">In the same vein, I encourage everyone to read this article written by <b>Ted Koppel </b>called <b>“</b><span><b>Olbermann, O'Reilly and the death of real news.</b>”<span> </span>It really does a great job of describing his first hand perspective on how modern news has been denuded.</span></span></p> <h1 style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202857.html"><span class="Apple-style-span">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202857.html</span></a> <span><o:p></o:p></span></span></h1> <h1 style="margin-bottom:7.5pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">As always, thanks for reading </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family:Arial; mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-char-type:symbol; mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span>J</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">.<span> </span>AMDG<span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-51282510805951337792010-10-26T07:06:00.001-07:002010-10-26T20:03:10.994-07:00Understanding a trip to Maine and "generational amnesia"<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><span>I </span>imagine most people have had at least one experience in their lives where they have been in complete awe of nature. I have had my share and hope to continue to pursue many more during my life, but my most recent - this past August in </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Maine</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">, specifically </span><st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Acadia</span></st1:place><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> national park – was particularly special for me. In a word… wow. The place is simply breathtaking.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">We camped, car camped that is, for one entire week. I’d say it was pretty rugged for a couple quasi-urbanites, but the best part of these rustic accommodations was that it forced us to be at surrounded by the natural beauty of the place for nearly every minute we spent there.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">I didn’t begin to fully appreciate the effect this vacation had on me until driving home when we happened to hear some quote on the radio (the exactness of which escapes me now). It was something like “the more people replace natural beauty with things virtual, they start to forget.” Hearing this and comprehending its meaning made my heart ache for all the natural beauty which has been lost over the years and for folks who just can’t/haven’t had the chance to experience such things.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">I assure you that this is not some left wing plea for saving this and that, just a bit of reflection on something I find important to my life.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">The next 11 hours of the drive provided ample opportunity for these thoughts to really sink in, and thus when I got home, I tried to do a bit of reading on the issue. The most original information I found was a thoughtful study by psychology researchers at the </span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">University</span></st1:placetype><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> of </span><st1:placename><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Washington</span></st1:placename></st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "> who investigated specifically the effect of modern technology and its increasing encroachment on to human connection with the natural world…</span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Specifics of the study:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt; vertical-align:baseline"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><span>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Subjects under stress had much better quality recovery by actually personally viewing a scene of nature (outside) versus seeing the same scene in real-time high-definition television.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 78.0pt;text-indent:-42.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 78.0pt; vertical-align:baseline"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; "><span>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Children were found to develop deeper and more social relationships with real-life pets versus robotic pets – however, they did actually develop one way superficial relationships with the robotic animals <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">At first thought, these may seem like trivial findings, yet if thoughtfully considered, it can be understood that over time, an increasing number <i>technological</i> nature experiences will do two things to our psyche as humans.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">First, there will be a large void in our ability to find solace and healing in nature b/c we will be deprived of such experiences – perhaps w/out even knowing what is missing. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Secondly, and I find more interesting, the baseline of what people perceive as the full human experience of nature will shift - the researchers actually referred to this as “generational amnesia.” The reason for this is that people naturally believe the environment <i>they</i> encounter during childhood is the norm – thus measuring all environmental degradation later in their life versus their ‘norm.’ It can then be assumed with each generation the degradation baseline moves further and we become oblivious to changes of previous generations.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Take poor air quality and asthma as an example. There wasn’t always such rampant asthma in cities, but it is considered today to be a normal part of the human condition. Those coming up today will thus not see pervasive asthma as an environmental issue to contend with. More simply, what about the creek/stream you knew from when you were a kid, chances it’s close to being dried up today. Those coming up today won’t even see the difference by that dried up creek-bed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:16.6pt;margin-left: 0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">That is an uncomfortable picture for me. I guess the point of this reflection is best summed up by a quote from one of the researchers: “We are a technological species, but we also need a deep connection with nature in our lives.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Thanks for reading. A.M.D.G.<o:p></o:p></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-79456187791862350742010-10-14T06:37:00.000-07:002010-10-14T09:01:17.053-07:00Anniversary Thoughts<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span"><p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">This past summer my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">What a special thing for me to write. And with the coming and going of that day, I guess it is easy to ask myself 1) what is the significance of that first year and 2) did I learn anything?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Well the easy answer is 1) tons and 2) you’re darn right I did. I felt it would be beneficial for me to think and write about it, so here are some of my thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">First, perhaps I have started to develop an understanding of one of the points of my friend’s homily during our ceremony. This point was that he believed we were ready to enter marriage because we had reached a point in our respective lives of love for ourselves, an understanding of who we are as individuals – <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>our own hopes and dreams and faults and failures altogether. Though at the time, I admit I didn’t really understand this, I do now. Without that love and understanding of self, this past year would have been much more difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">For example, as I sit and think about the times we have disagreed as a couple; it has usually been the times when I have felt out of sync with myself. A continued understanding of this will help us grow together. It is interesting then for me as I take that reflection one step further. I feel most in sync with myself when I feel in sync with God - when I am devoting time to prayer and service. I find this synchrony directly translates to excitement about my foreseeable path in life, and makes me even more excited because that foreseeable path involves spending it with my wife. Awesome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">And then I have considered the meaning of the often said phrase “marriage involves sacrifice.” …which ‘defining’ things of my first 29 years did I give up in order to make this marriage work? I guess it may seem odd, but honestly I feel basically like not much. Sure, I have not done a few things here and there which I may have done otherwise, but it seems that the result of that decision each time to do something or spend time with her has always resulted in more harmony and understanding of who we are as a couple. Since I voluntarily made a commitment to her to make her needs and our growth as a couple a priority (and I am a man of my word </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings"><span style="mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">), I don’t find it overly difficult to do such things. Really, it seems that sacrificing things of self enable me to better understand my love for her, and this feels great.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">And then there is also the old adage that “marriage is hard work.” <span class="apple-style-span">Yeah, I guess that is true. However, of the more recent years of my life which I can remember very clearly, I don’t think any year has been as easy or as fun as this past one. Challenges are easy with her to depend on. Fun things are more fun with her involved in them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">During our ceremony I recall that we were given a blessing that we were to live our life as one spirit. When I realize that I have accepted that blessing fully, I find something proven of what I already felt to be true – that God’s love is life giving. If I take the example of JC – the humble servant himself, I find that doing things for her energizes me again and again to get up and do it again the next day. This then has many implications of how I can interact with the world as a whole – I can use the love and energy I get from her as a springboard to spread that same love to others… Man, this marriage thing is getting better and better the more I think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial">My dad once spoke to me many years ago about marriage – he said that marriage <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">is not a union of</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;border:none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0in;padding:0in;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">convenience</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">, a temporary set up, or even a way to beat loneliness… to succeed in marriage we have to commit to our love and to each other each day. At that time I must have thought, “wow, that sounds terrible and really hard.” However, after a year of it I feel like as long as we continue to love ourselves, keep our spiritual connection a priority, and continue to understand the concept of self-sacrifice, this whole marriage thing is not nearly as difficult as it sounds.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:18.85pt;margin-left: 0in;line-height:11.8pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Thanks for reading and special thank you to my super awesome wife for being well, super awesome I guess.</span></span></p></span><p></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-13744334870996925992010-10-04T18:50:00.000-07:002010-10-04T18:52:47.397-07:00Counting Crows and their honesty<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" ></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" ><p class="MsoNormal">People are attracted to honesty… freely offered honesty, the kind that offers a window into who we are.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My wife and I recently went to the Counting Crows concert. We had the uncommon opportunity to stand at the very front of the stage. During the show, I turned around and looked out into the audience – taking in the scene of thousands of fans singing along and dancing – and then I turned to Adam Duritz. As he sang and the band played The Rain King, I took a quick moment to consider something which I guess I had not considered previously or at least recently... at the core of this band’s music (and many other musicians) is deeply personal reflections on life and love. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It was then even more interesting to me to think about how we seem to experience the opposite of what was happening here… people in general are usually turned off or uncomfortable by such openness? Yet these people were not uncomfortable, they were enthralled.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is there something about Duritz’s honesty that makes it special? Background guitar and drums, is it the fame? <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps… but I think it is simply people are captivated by the ability of this person to stand in front of millions and just speak from w/in. Very few of us have really unique experiences, and even fewer have unique emotions related to those experiences. Most people can and will relate to you, even if it doesn’t seem like it on the surface. My guess, after a brief 29 years of life, would be that everyone not only can relate each other, but for the most part, wants to feel personally connected with each other -- what better way than to use honesty?<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Consequently, that is why the Counting Crows are loved so much, people feel like they have a personal connection with the lead singer and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">his</i> honesty.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m sure someone once said this so I can’t quote myself, but the biggest obstacle to honesty is fear, fear of what others will think or how they will react to what we are truly feeling. I guess I should take a tip from Mr. Duritz, especially if I could include a catchy song with it.<o:p></o:p></p></span><p></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-83540519976008062562010-06-01T16:41:00.001-07:002010-06-01T17:34:06.769-07:00Reverence for a Lost Companion: Reflections on the Life and Death a Pet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt9TDZZoilMr6AG4sdYxmIQo1kqYNoobTNRl99SCLwX4W1tC0KoUvts-q6g5Z_bIbgu_qrwzu3R86E4YGstYSaB0YX-hW9SMM23U-4dUJkuZcAr23rZvXPi4_ZvF2a_jV5NFca7pCxL4/s1600/DSCN0743.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIt9TDZZoilMr6AG4sdYxmIQo1kqYNoobTNRl99SCLwX4W1tC0KoUvts-q6g5Z_bIbgu_qrwzu3R86E4YGstYSaB0YX-hW9SMM23U-4dUJkuZcAr23rZvXPi4_ZvF2a_jV5NFca7pCxL4/s320/DSCN0743.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477968107100487298" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I never really realized how special pets could be until nearly a year with one culminated into one fateful day, the day my wife and I decided to euthanize our favorite little </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kingston</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. And though the rest of these words will be about a couple important things I learned from the little guy, at the outset, at tear falls for I just miss my friend.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">End of life care for a pet is a difficult one indeed. Intellectually, it makes sense – they are simply animals, and we eat animals for food, we see them dead on the side of the road, we curse them when they poop on our shirts. But emotionally, it is much more of challenge to understand and it is a decision which brings in to focus the idea of how much humanity do we each find in a beloved animal.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Some of the questions I find myself pondering are: what did I learn from my companion? Did I want to his suffering or my own? Can an animal really gain any benefit from suffering? Of course ultimately everyone has to make up their own mind on these matters, and like most of the decisions and thoughts I deal with at this point in my life, I let myself be guided by my Faith.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city><st1:place><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kingston</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> taught me a lot about love. I'm talking about the kind of love that we are called to display toward one another. The kind of love that greets you when you come home, with a smile, and a sense that he couldn’t be happier to see me; the kind of love that accepts gifts graciously; the kind of love that cuddles you when you are feeling down; the kind of love that just sits and shares space with you because just sharing space is sometimes all I need; the kind of love that is completely content with these simple measures and no more. This is especially a cool realization to me because this is the kind of love that I believe God has for me, and the kind of love I am to have for others. How neat for daily reminders to come in the form of a cute cuddly 5-pound kitten.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And really, how did I come to the point of euthanasia when completely against it in the human arena? I guess I have concluded is that physical pain in an animal does not bring it any further spiritual or emotional understanding, which I believe is one of the points of human suffering. Thankfully, I am able to gain a deeper understanding of others from suffering, able to gain a deeper appreciation of things I cherish, and able to deepen my belief system – all through suffering. I don't believe that is possible for a cat. Animals live in the moment and never wrestle</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">with the daily anguish over life and death. These differences are part of what makes humans and animals special in their own right.</span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><o:p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ultimately, I admit that it is hard not to project at least some humanity onto </span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kingston</span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> - especially after living with him so closely for so long. Heck, he probably thought of me as a cat (that is, if he had the capacity for thought?). Yet in spite of it all, I am certain that he was given to me as a gift that I may not only benefit from his unconditional love, but also to test and prove my own. I have no doubt that my friend Kingston in all senses of my understanding fulfilled his duty here on Earth as a cat and as a pet and I only hope that I fulfilled my duty as an friend to him.</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As always, thanks for reading :-) AMDG</span></p></span>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-68310741675918139622010-05-23T08:57:00.000-07:002010-05-23T08:59:36.646-07:00The effort that went in to YOU<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">I am currently rotating on the psychiatry service, making up a rotation that I kindly deferred until my fourth year of school because I really had no interest in psychiatry. And though I still really don’t think I could make a career out of being a psychiatrist, I thank God that I didn’t skip this rotation altogether (which I was hoping for during that past few months) because I am learning more and more about life and the difficulties <i>normal </i>people face than I have on any other rotation. There have been so many heart wrenching stories of young and old folks who have seemingly everything together, but are depressed and suicidal. There are the stories of the folks who were just using a little alcohol or drugs (illegal and/or legal) here and there to cope with a tough spot in life, and they end up a few years later dependent and in need of treatment. And then there are of course the patients who most (including me at most points in my life) would really just consider “crazy.” (Although I have come to realize that I use this label in order to remove myself from having to put forth the effort to understand what is really going on in that person’s life).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 19px; font-size: 13px; ">And yet, the accumulations of all these stories have struck a particular chord with me. This chord is the abstract concept of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">the amount of work (and I use that term loosely) that went in to YOU</i>. Really. Stop, think about it.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 19px; font-size: 13px; ">We often consider the best things we produce in our lives those which we work really hard for: our outstanding work projects, a special dinner we have made, a well executed competitive performance, a well groomed garden, or even a medical degree. These are all great things, without a doubt. However, they really pale in comparison to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">YOU.</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">You </i>are the product of years and years of hard work, a joint project of your parent(s), siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, priests, teachers, mentors, friends of friends. All of these people and more have collaborated and put forth effort to produce the ultimate result<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>-- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">you</i>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 19px; font-size: 13px; ">How special is that? Really, it’s amazing.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">But then, of course, things can go wrong at any time. We can very easily misstep and become one of the stories of those hospital patients. (Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that those people are failed projects, just ones that need a little extra work </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family: Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings"><span style="mso-char-type:symbol; mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial">).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; line-height:150%;font-family:Arial"><o:p>It’s mind blowing to consider the number of people over the years who have helped you become who are you. And it’s not over, more and more people will collaborate with others to help you become the person you ultimately become. It seems almost selfish if we don’t then in turn try to be cognizant of the “projects” that are going on all around us and not do our part to help out. Most of the time, we probably do without even knowing it.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 19px; font-size: 13px; ">I guess the point is, put the time in, because you were and will continue to be worth it, and so is everyone else.</span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-13598730432558276102010-04-24T18:49:00.000-07:002010-04-24T19:10:12.597-07:00Dr. Luck<div>It's funny, no... it's not funny. It's awesome how people can inspire our lives and not even mean to. Some people just have a knack for being a shining light though they don't even try. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is so with friend of mine, Dr. Luck, who passed away this past week. Though I knew her only briefly and the majority of our conversations were short emails or a short constructive critiques of my professional development, she still somehow managed to inspire me.</div><div><br /></div><div>And even as I sat behind her friends and family at her funeral, loving the love that filled the space, it was a song that she had selected to be sung at her funeral that will stick with me as I continue down my own road. I have no doubt that it will help me focus again and again on the same love that enabled her to do the amazing things she did with her life...</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4g8_e16dc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4g8_e16dc</a>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3413377943997898920.post-29301936311206053322010-04-18T12:11:00.000-07:002010-04-18T12:13:49.721-07:00"some good will come from this..."<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Terrible things happen in life, sometimes. Whether they happen to us, to those we love, or people in some other part of the world, they just seem to happen. We can’t control them, even with our humanistic desire to do just that. I believe our effort to control them is cathartic and the right thing to do for now. But what do we make of the thoughts which these events inspire in so many. For example, I and many close to me were recently touched by the news of the loss of a young man’s life, just as he was beginning to blossom into the hopes and dreams of himself and those who loved him. These types of events make it very easy for us to get disillusioned by the inevitable loss that sometimes creeps right into our very own lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p>Yet still, there is hope for those who wonder “why?” and those who say “how could God let this happen to him/her” and even the questioning of “why did this have to happen at all?” It is no secret that when terrible things happen, caring friends and family often offer the condolence of “some good will come from this,” and though it is easy to dismiss this expression of hope as dismissive way to deal with grief and loss, I am happy to report that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">it is in fact true.</i></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">I had a conversation with a friend of mine two days ago discussing some of the tragic things which we have seen or been part of in our lives. She told of the traumatic experience of being within 100 yards of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial">London</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Arial"> subway bombing in 2005. I told of the untimely loss of a couple friends during my high school years. Though both stories were very different, we both casually described the effect those experiences had on the decisions we have since made since, and soon realized that a lot of those decisions have had direct effects on our career choices. My friend actually said at one point during the conversation “that was the day I chose to go to medical school.” We have both actually chosen career paths which are difficult but will eventually enable us to positively effect the lives of many people in our own way.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p>Now of course, everyone has life-experiences that help shape their lives, that is not to uncommon. However, what is interesting to me is that both events are exactly the type of events which people offer those same “why” questions mentioned above. And now, nearly 5 plus years later, some of the “good” which was hoped for result of those terrible events in our lives, is actually close to coming to fruition. Both she and I, nearly complete bystanders from our respective “life changing” events - have eventually used those “why” experiences for the good of others.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p>Thus I have come to the conclusion that when such terrible events occur, no matter how great or how small, though we grieve and hurt, it is REAL to expect good to result from our loss. There are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">in fact </i>people, just like you and I who allow those events to move them and build up inside of them and ultimately inspire them to better the lives of others. It might take years, but if we are patient, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">real and tangible good will result from loss</i>.</o:p></span></p>moejalyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08670568971189227774noreply@blogger.com4