I have been trying to think of a holiday essay that would be upbeat and full of holiday cheer but based upon recent events in my country and media I have absorbed lately - it is a challenge! Firstly are the shootings of unarmed black men by the police that have been going on for a long time but have obviously reached a tipping point and have tipped into big protests all across the country - which is a good thing. It's rare to see the young people get organized and off the couch into the streets since Occupy a few years ago. Yet I do not see the plight of young black men being fixed anytime soon based upon the fact that ugly prejudice unfortunately still remains a significant barrier to progress in this matter.
Yet like intelligent Basketball Hall of Fame's Kareem Abdul Jabaar pointed out - this battle goes beyond race and actually has a lot to with socioeconomics because millions of Americans of all colors and backgrounds - including whites are suffering in a weak economy where crappy wages or part time work or no work at all keep folks from having a half way decent life - never mind the idea of actually getting ahead! Thus the racial tensions are high because folks are struggling and it creates a dog eat dog mentality. All this happening on Main Street while the top 1% plutocrats on Wall Street are making billions living oblivious in their ivory towers on Park Avenue, Aspen, Palm Beach, Silicon Valley etc.- biggest profits in history - and they (huge corporations) refuse to pay a living wage! The Walton family that owns Walmart are a perfect example of all that is wrong with America. All the siblings are multi-billionaires while 30% of their workforce are on Public Assistance aka Welfare aka US tax monies. How much money does one need? This question is as old as greed itself and it seems that it is as much as is possible, like a psychological sickness - even if it means the destruction of the planet and all the creatures on it.
Then I see a decent documentary, but not great - on dvd. Discovery channel production of Stephen Hawking's
Grand Design documentary - where he proposes that God does not exist because time did not exist before the Big Bang - therefore no God. This is a huge assumption based on a lack of scientific knowledge on what existed before the Big Bang. Never mind that an omnipresent-omnipotent God who has possibly created multiple universes and all that exist within them - surely does not rely on one dimension for its presence! Also it seems that if you title your show Grand Design - this implies a designer! I read Stephen Hawkings classic book on physics for the layman -
A Brief History of Time - many years ago when I was young and enjoyed it and learned some things. In it he kept an open mind about God referring to it as Einstein did - as some type of mind/intelligence that may or may not exist. Something happened since then - because he is very definite about where he stands now - no time - no God! What is disturbing is his influence in the secular Academic realm that seems to be dominated by similar thinking scientists who believe the world to be a big accident - with no meaning and based upon a material reductionism dogma that has ruled for far too long. His argument about time not existing before the Big Bang and even within Black Holes is weak scientifically. Black Holes are his supposed specialty which he has built a career on. But it cannot be proven definitively until we send some type of device into one and determine once and for all what is going in beyond the event horizon.
Then I just finished reading
The Fault in Our Stars by best selling popular teen writer and vlogger John Green. Very intelligent but depressing book about young folks with cancer. However the book leans mostly in the secular - everything is a freak accident and nothing really matters vibe. Mr. Green packages this hopeless non-spiritual attitude neatly within a tragic cancer tale of young and dying star crossed lovers. I believe the existentialist angst experienced by the young cancer victims is symbolic of the human condition - the great mystery of mortality and legacy that many do not think about until they are older. I get it. And making us all aware and empathetic of the plight of people dying from cancer or any other disease is a good thing. But regardless - the book makes God out to be a rip off - and I know this not to be true in my heart of hearts. We will never comprehend the infinite grandeur that is the universe and the workings thereof, but one thing I and many others know - based on intuitive faith - is that GOD IS NOT A RIP OFF! We must trust that God knows best - respect the mystery and trust that God has our best long term souls' interests as part of its program - whatever that may be - it's none of our business.
Our business according to all the great prophets and sages of history is to love and respect one another and live in harmony with nature. Humans are still primitive in their tribal associations - institutions and thus divided - mostly over what Messengers/Prophets/Sages said what, when and where. Gems of wisdom on how humans should behave toward one another come from all cultures around the world. Wisdom knows no boundaries in the human family. Therefore let's not get hung up on who said what - let's focus on what was said! God can speak to and through all of us if we set up our cosmic soul antenna properly and hone in on God's frequency - usually through prayer or mediation. We are part of the cosmos - literally made of star dust that has evolved to the point where we can contemplate our maker - pretty cool and humbling if one has any humility to start with.
IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE AND LEARNING TO LOVE AND LOVING TO LEARN! TRUE EVOLUTION REQUIRES THIS JUMP IN CONSCIOUSNESS. LOVE IS THE GLUE OF THE UNIVERSE! THE LOVE YOU FEEL FOR YOUR PARENTS, SIBLINGS, SOUL-MATE AND FRIENDS CAN'T BE PUT UNDER A MICROSCOPE BUT IT IS AS REAL AS THE SUN!
