Reveal yourself to me...

Rather...I would reveal myself onto you...

Recently, Deb asked me a question: "Have you ever asked God to reveal Himself to you?" I am not sure if those were the exact words she used but it's my belief that my recollection is in the spirit of her original query and is accurate in spirit if not its precise wording. As with most questions of deep gravity I've been giving this question from our latest interlocution a deep measure of thought and reflection. The short answer to Deb's sincere and compassionate question is this: "No I have not." This raises the deeper question with some degree of obviousness:

Why have I not asked God to reveal both Himself and His will for my life directly to me?

There was a time in my life when reason and faith were very much at war for my allegiance as it were. This time comprised the years betwixt my mid teens to my late twenties. I was, and still am to some degree, a quiet and bashful person. My adolescence was awkward and painful. Sooner would I wish my own death than be the center of any sort of attention. Having been a curious child I wanted to know the workings of the physical and natural world. My parents made it easy for me to obtain answers to the questions their limited educations could not any longer provide. It was at this time Carl Sagan's magnum opus "Cosmos" premiered on PBS. It was a sincere revelation of the most awesome kind. It tied EVERYTHING together. I began to understand that the Universe was indifferent to humanities cares, concerns and sufferings. It was our own intelligence that was the greatest force for our own survival and success. This clashed doggedly with the Christian teachings I was being instructed in every Sunday. For more than 15 years I somehow managed to compartmentalize two realms. The realm dominated by reason coupled with empiricism and the realm of revealed truth and faith in a personal God.

Over the years I have come to the intractable conclusion that God, if He does exist, is not active in the world of humanity or in its affairs. There are just too many horrors evident in this world to believe in a personal deity. Such a being is inconsistent with the world as revealed by my senses and my reason.

So again in answer to Deb's thoughtful question; No I do not ask God to reveal himself to me because any answer I get will not convince me of his existence anyway. The reason being thus; the human mind is far too powerful a manufacturer of sensation and feeling. How would I know for sure I was experiencing the divine and not some manifestation of my own mind that my inner consciousness was convinced that I needed to have?

While I am sure that those of you did indeed have a spiritual experience that changed you in a deep and personal way, it is by definition a personal experience and therefore outside of my own and naturally from standpoint of empiricism it is, in the end, untestable and unverifiable. Perhaps these spiritual experiences you all give testimony to are experiences you needed to have at some particular point in your lives to give you purpose and direction when you desperately needed them. My own skepticism to the veracity of your claims of the divine origin of the experience would, I hope, do nothing to ameliorate the power and authenticity of your experience. To my mind and, hopefully to your own what would it matter what the origin of the experience is? It has clearly given purpose and direction to your own lives. It is not my station nor my intent to relieve anyone from their beliefs.

All of my life I have had a very stringent and rigid moral sense. I have never abused any physical substance. I have obeyed the laws of society to the best of my ability. I have endeavored to treat with my fellow man in a way that is fair and honest. I have not needed to call upon God for answers as to how I should behave in day to day existence, to my mind answers and requirements have always been self evident. I have not felt the need to inquire with the divine for purpose in my life for that is for me to decide and no one else. Even if I were to have such an experience I am not convinced that I would attribute it to God. To quote the eminent mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace when asked by Napoleon why he (Laplace) never mentioned a creator in all his mathematic and astronomical works is said to have replied: "Sir, I have no need for that hypothesis." Do not take this as arrogance but simply as my way conveying that I have enough understanding of the nature of the universe as to be comfortable with my lot in it.

R.

PS Deb, I hope this response is accepted by you as coming from my heart and is in keeping with my wish to be as intellectually honest as possible. Sorry it took so long to answer! Peace to you and your family!

One of my favorites...

A recent conversation I had with Deb reminded me of one of my favorite pieces of poetry. Mr. Robert Frost, who inhabited my neck o' the woods for much of his life, wrote this little piece that I draw much inspiration from:

The Road not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference

by Robert Frost

Technical Note

So evidently most readers find the music player distracting and annoying. With those concerns in mind I have eliminated the imeem player from my blog.

I have also ADDED a Yahoo Messenger status widget to the right so you can see whence I am available for chat!

R.

Mr. Einstein was one...

Having read enough of Einstein's writings I know enough about him to identify with his brand of spirituality. Still over the decades many different and disparate groups have quote mined his work for phrases to support their particular agendas be they political, religious or scientific or some combination there of.

Recently, a letter written by Einstein went on the auction block in London. In this letter MR. Relativity leaves no doubt as to what his views are regarding the Bible:

The letter up for sale, written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954, suggests his views on religion did not mellow with age.

In it, Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

"For me," he added, "the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."

Perhaps, now those of a theist bend will stop quote mining Mr. Einstein...?

I doubt it.

R.

Tagged

Deb has tagged me……

The requirements...

1. Write the title to your memoir using 6 words
2. Post it on your blog
3. Link to the person that tagged you
4. Tag five more blogs

"Leaving the world a better place..."

The five I tag:

Ed.

Christian.

Tammers

Wifey

Vin

R.

An atheist anthem...?

What could be more beautiful?

Wisdom from Ben Stein...

I understand that many of you have been to see "Expelled". I further understand that many of you have taken some heart from the film.

However, I feel compelled to show the character of the 'Stein':

In an interview with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Ben Stein said the following amazing thing in an interview with Paul Crouch, Jr.

Stein: "When we just saw that man, I think it was Mr. Myers [i.e. biologist P.Z. Myers], talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed … that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science — in my opinion, this is just an opinion — that’s where science leads you."

Crouch: That’s right.

Stein: "…Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people."

Crouch: Good word, good word.

That's right...anyone engaged in any sort of science... your goal is killing people!

This man is human slime! What a SCUMBAG!!

R.