Memorabilia

I admire the vows of poverty taken by monks to simplify their lives, but it seems like certain possessions would be difficult to give up altogether. We keep objects with irreplaceable sentimental value on display to remind us of people, places, and events in our past and rekindle the memories of our experiences.

I would more easily part with consumer electronics, I think, than permanently dispose of certain memorabilia, but perhaps detachment from the past benefits the monastic pursuit.

Blisters

I once described civilization as a first-aid kit carried on the shoulders of the naked ape, which was so heavy that it caused blisters on his feet–that required first aid. The naked ape, the human animal, is always trying to get back to its biological norm, but without giving up its new trappings.

–Desmond Morris, The Nature of Happiness

Loneliness

Friends who put your needs above their own are a rare treasure indeed.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed… Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away for the second time… Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time… Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.’
(Matthew 26:36-46)

Jesus had many disciples and followers, but I wonder who, if anyone, he considered a close friend.

Springtime Fancy

In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove;
In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
–Alfred Lord Tennyson, Locksley Hall

I’m not sure what it is in particular about the coming of Spring, but in my scant twenty five years of existence I’ve found Tennyson’s observations generally accurate for myself. Perhaps the winter starts to wear on us come February or March as we anticipate the return and rejuvenation of outdoor life and entertain the possibility of joining the flourish.

Biologically it makes sense that humans periodically entertain thoughts of love so that the species can continue, and I think there is validity that this time comes for many as the snow begins melting. It makes me wonder about snow barren lands like California: does the nearly constant summertime creates an endless romantic cycle, with fragile love never subjected to the harshness of winter?

There’s no telling what the coming season will bring, but if animated owls constitute a source of wisdom I had best prepare for the inevitable:

Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You’re walking along, minding your own business. You’re looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head’s in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you’re walking on air. And then you know what? You’re knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
–Friend Owl, Bambi

It could happen to you…

Faith and Truth

Truth is not manifest. Positive empirical knowledge is impossible, learning proceeds through a process of falsification, and knowledge by induction is illogical.

Revealed religion maintains that Truth is knowable. As knowledge of this Truth cannot be obtained empirically, faith is required to identify ultimate sources of Truth. Revealed religion may persist, but it can never assert itself as logically valid because Truth is still logically unattainable.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

If all knowledge is negative–that is, we can never arrive at a proven fact–then revealed religion cannot make demands of the so-called secular world to demonstrate knowledge of physical Truth. Logic, it seems, lends itself to negative knowledge (i.e., the best idea so far) while faith generates positive knowledge (i.e., we know this to be True).

Faith cannot be systematically taught, though, requiring evangelists instead of teachers–persuasion over information. This seems to me sufficient reason for the exclusion of dogma from science curricula (read: ID/creationism), for though we cannot fault those who choose faith, the insistence on positive accumulation of knowledge ultimately stems from a faith-based worldview for which no logical justification exists.