A Quandary
I've been trying to balance my checkbook for a few months now. It started out being $87 off; next, it was $98 off; next, it was $400 off; and today it was $600 off. This makes me think that somebody at the bank is tapping into my account. But that is probably just my justification for doing some dumb addition and subtraction. However, my Quicken figures equal my checkbook figures. Hmmmm!
Good Creative Works
My neighbor, Lou P, is a minister and writes a column for the local newspaper. He seems to be a very creative person, having done some memorable things like putting Ponger together. Ponger was half pony and half tiger. (Ponger would appear on somebody's lawn without notice, and stay there as an item for discussion for a few days, at which time it would disappear... to suddenly reappear on somebody else's lawn.)
Lou is always trying to get his readers to THINK! and I admire him for that. Even though he is a so-called "man of the cloth," I think that he is an agnostic at heart and just loves doing "good works." For instance, he gets up early every morning and walks around the village with his cat picking up newspapers thrown helter skelter by our "paper person." Lou then carries the papers and places them where the elderly recipient (like me) can get them easily.. and not have to brave the ice and snow to try to find them.
Oh.. yeah.. Lou's cat. The cat is one of the black tuxedo cats that Carroll County is famous for. This cat must be a "familiar," because it follows Lou around the neighborhood and seldom gets distracted.
Anyway.. one of these days I want to talk to Lou about theodicy. Why, if God is so omnipotent and loving, does he allow little children to suffer and die?
The God Question
Stacy Schierholz wrote to the New York Times about the "does God exist?" question. May I quote from her letter: "Many 'honest' atheists, including me, don't care to consider the question of God at all. Aside from the simple thruth that the question does not interest me, the existence of a god or gods would not change the way I live my life, and therefore holds no value to me. I also find it a waste of time and attention to wonder about the unknowable when there are so many interesting and urgent questions with real answers waiting to be revealed."
Richard C. Johnson, a board member of Freethought Arizona also wrote to the New York Times, and I quote him here: "There is a compelling argument,...that God is an artifact of human consciousness. Consciousness creates within us a serious identity problem. We strive to know how we came to be. God is just the latest version of our relentless search for identity. It is human nature for us to search for God in the natural world about us. But it's the wrong place. God is just a product of our consciousness."
Now, I will quote Lou P: "I ask you to think about these things."
Darwin?
You've seen those nice little metal fish shapes attached to cars.. they are there as representations of the fish symbol of early Christianity, and give notice that the driver (and maybe the passengers) adhere to a Christian faith. Very nice. I like them. My son gave me one that I like better. It is shaped similarly to the fish form, but the fish has evolutionary feet.
Now, what will that tell my religious neighbors in Carroll County? Lou P. and others in my village will not get upset, and neither will other enlightened ministers, rabbis and Catholic priests who have realized that Darwinism does not diminish their faith, because they believe that their God is smart enough to set evolution going, resulting in some sentient beings in human form assuming the leadership of the creatures of our planet (at least for now.)
However, other folks in Carroll County may be of a more Conservative bent when it comes to religious matters and may not like the Darwin reptile appearing on my car. Many of my friends take the Bible seriously and I would never look down on them for their beliefs. Meanwhile, I wish that they could listen closely to the following words.. my apologies to Mr. Gershwin:
It ain't necessarily so,
It ain't necessarily so.
Little David was small,
But oh my!
Yeah, Little David was small,
But oh my!
He slew old Goliath,
Who lay down and dieth.
Little David was small,
But oh my!
It ain't necessarily so,
It ain't necessarily so.
Old Methuselah lived nine hundred years
Yeah, old Methuselah lived nine hundred years.
But what use is livin'
When no woman will give in
To no man what's nine hundred years?
It ain't necessarily so,
It ain't necessarily so.
The things that you're liable
To read in the Bible
Just ain't necessarily so.
So, I takes the Gospel
Whenever it's poss'ble
(But with a grain of salt!)
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I love Porgy and Bess!
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