St. John of the Mountains

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In a book that could be subtitled, “An Ode to John Muir,” the author of “Biodesign Out For A Walk” whimsically referred to Muir as “St. John of the Mountains.” After further review, perhaps he was not being whimsical and Muir’s elevation to sainthood may not be an unrealistic overreach. As a highly literate man, Muir was likely aware that his philosophy was closely related to St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius of Loyola. Both men were devout Nature lovers and described all matters natural as the handiwork of God.

Denis Williams wrote in his book, God’s Wilds: John Muir’s Vision of Nature (College Station: Texas A&M Univ. Press):

“Muir saw nature as a great teacher, ‘revealing the mind of God,’ and this belief became the central theme of his later journeys and the “subtext” of his nature writing.”

Muir joined Henry Thoreau and R.W. Emerson in a brotherhood of naturalists who believed that a quintessential component of becoming fully human involved transcending the confining bonds of logic, reason and egoism in order to be spiritually born: Ergo, Mystery remains Supreme.

Perhaps it is also not a reach to deduce that if Muir had been a member of the Roman Catholic Church, he would have been canonized long ago. However, the reality is that he regarded the universe as his church and being the free spirit that he was, chose not to identify with any sectarian branch of religion:

“Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.”

Photo: Matt Stoecker
(Inlaid Photo: I.W. Taber)

Even so, as a child, he had memorized much of the Holy Bible and his writing often reflected Holy Scripture; as in the case of Psalm 8:

“When I consider Thy heavens,
the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars,
which Thou hast ordained;
What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?” KJV

 

He also frequently sowed spiritual seeds with writings:

“From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens.”

“I used to envy the father of our race, dwelling as he did in contact with the new-made fields and plants of Eden; but I do so no more, because I have discovered that I also live in “creation’s dawn.’”

“In God’s wildness lies the hope of the world—the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness. The galling harness of civilization drops off and the wounds heal ere we are aware.”

Sometimes his words and deeds can be considered downright evangelical:

“I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature’s loveliness. Heaven knows that John the Baptist was not more eager to get all of his fellow sinners into the Jordan than I to baptize all of mine in the beauty of God’s mountains.”

Photo: artinnaturephotography.com

One of the prerequisites of achieving sainthood is an act of performing a miracle. Because Muir was such a spiritual giant, few would argue that his life, works and legacy have provided inspiration, comfort, even healing for countless millions of people, many of whom have had Nature-induced “born-again experiences.” His lofty vision of the importance of “eco-spirituality” has spread globally. Through his inspiration and guidance countless thousands of national, state and regional parks (and nature preserves) have been established worldwide. After Muir’s famous “camp-out” with Teddy Roosevelt on top of Yosemite’s Glacier Point, Roosevelt signed into existence five national parks, 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests. Millions of acres have been set-aside for the primary purpose of encouraging people to reconnect with Mother Nature.

“Everybody needs beauty…places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.” JM

Photo: jhmg.com

Muir is arguably the world’s greatest naturalist and helped identify and define man’s ultimate relationship with Nature; including a possible relationship with God. Although he would scoff at the idea of being considered for canonization, he clearly qualifies for the ecumenically equivalent status of sainthood.

The final line in his marvelous story about his little wonder-dog Stickeen was:

“To me Stickeen is immortal!”

In what has become a quintessential irony, it is truly John Muir who has become immortal in the hearts and minds of countless millions of Nature lovers around the world.

“St. John of the Mountains” has a nice ring to it.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

John Muir—Total Lunar Eclipse Over Half Dome And Beyond

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Among perhaps the three greatest American Naturalists, John Muir was clearly the wildest. He “walked-the-walk and talked-the-talk” throughout vast areas of unspoiled wilderness. He experienced and described marvels, wonders and miracles that R.W. Emerson and H.D. Thoreau could not envision in their widest imagination. Emerson chose to write from the comfort of his office desk. Thoreau attempted to ascend Mt. Katahdin (5200 ft.), got lost in the fog and wrote: …“I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me?”

Muir easily walked the equivalent of around the world and the list of mountains that he climbed is extraordinary; including Mt. Whitney (14,500 ft.), Mt. Shasta (14,100 ft.), Mt. Rainer (14, 411 ft.).

Even though he walked the world over, Muir’s favorite “temple” was Yosemite Valley, which he boldly proclaimed kept him in a constant state of elevated physical, mental and spiritual transcendence. Evidently, over 700 St. Helena High School advanced biology students agreed, especially those who participated in a total lunar eclipse on the top of Yosemite’s Half Dome.

After 24 years of leading high school students into Yosemite’s wilderness, it seemed as though Mother Nature saved one of her finest synchronicities for our last trip. Each year students were challenged to get as close to the living spirit of Muir as they could. Some experienced a “John Muir baptism” under Nevada Fall. Many slept under the stars on top of Half Dome (when it was legal). One class slept through a snowstorm; one class descended the Half Dome cables in a freak ice storm. It seemed to help that they had previously read about Muir’s escapades: a face-to-face encounter with a Yosemite bear; climbing a swaying fir tree in a windstorm; “scoochering” out on a ledge under the brow of a flooding Yosemite Fall; body-surfing an avalanche; inching across an ice bridge on an Alaskan glacier; frolicking during a major earthquake in Yosemite Valley; and wallowing all night (14 hours) in a Mt. Shasta fumarole during a snow storm.

The fall of 1996 proved to be our last trip to Yosemite. We camped at Little Yosemite Valley and planned a day-hike to explore the top of Half Dome. After a wondrous afternoon, the sun began to set and a small group of mostly boys approached me with a bold request. We had discussed the total lunar eclipse that was predicted that evening and I mentioned that we could not stay on top because descending the cables in the dark was not a risk I could take.

However, the group leader informed me that they had all brought along headlights and reminded me that chaperone Mark Salvestrin was a skilled wilderness guide. Furthermore, he was also a gifted Nature photographer who might be able to capture some of the magic of the eclipse. During our pre-trip studies, we learned that some Scots still believe in “Kything,” (communicating with the dead). One of the boys suggested that he had checked with Muir’s spirit and he agreed they should stay for the show. The group erupted with laughter, but I wondered if, in his clever ploy, the boy might have been on to something.

Whether in print or verbally, Muir enthusiastically credited a “Heavenly Creator” for guiding his life. Understandably, he was perplexed by fellow wilderness trekkers who put their trust in a small brass compass with a magnetic needle, but remained unaware of spiritual guidance from a Higher Power. Intriguingly, before I encountered the “Spirit of Muir,” I was in that company. As a “science” teacher, I had little (if any) interest in religious discourse and without him I probably would have lived my life agreeing with the great Stephen Hawking, (“The Great Design”) …God has become obsolete.

Thankfully, in direct opposition, Muir’s extraordinary theological interpretation of Yosemite: “a place to play and a place to pray” radically transformed my life and led me to the conclusion that he remains as a spiritual bridge between Heaven and Earth.

In the end I was swayed by the students’ tenacity and agreed that I would lead one group down to Little Yosemite Valley and Mark would lead the eclipse gazers down after dark.

After returning to camp, it was immediately clear that participating in a total lunar eclipse on top of Half Dome would become a totally, “you have to go there to know there” experience. The gazers effused enthusiasm as they absorbed the fact that they would not likely ever see an event like that again in their entire lifetime. They confirmed what Muir claimed that Nature never disappoints and always offers more that we expect.

Mark’s photo conjures up wonderful questions about mysteries of Muir’s “Heavenly Creator.” So, just what is it that makes lunar eclipses so intriguing? After all, in terms of gravitation, nothing unusual occurs: no changes in tidal rhythm or abnormal weather patterns.

On the other hand, there is a lot of space “out there” and when we consider the synchronicity of variables necessary for the Earth, Sun and Moon to align perfectly, it boggles the mind.

  1. Our moon revolves around the Earth every 29.5 days and due to a mysterious “synchronous rotation” it keeps the same face turned toward the Earth.
  2. The Earth’s rotational velocity at the equator is about 1,000 mph; San Francisco is moving approximately 700 mph and the velocity at the poles is zero.
  3. The Earth is revolving around the sun at about 67,000 mph.
  4. Our Solar System is traveling through the Milky Way Galaxy at 45,000 mph.
  5. The Milky Way Galaxy is moving approx. 1,000,000 mph through “NOTHING!” Well, except for some widely scattered hydrogen ions.
  6. We are headed for the constellation Hercules, but not to worry. It is over 1 million light years away and the distance that light travels is about 6 trillion miles per year. Therefore, we will have to travel 131,000,000,000,000,000 miles to get there.

Stories like these send chills down my spine when I contemplate that I could have missed 24 years of John Muir guiding my amazingly curious students on inner spiritual journeys via wilderness adventures. It is heartbreaking to know that very few of our public school children from K-grad-school will experience what Muir was writing about.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

A Christmas Gift

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“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” Matt. 19:14

When our four children were small, each year the best Christmas gift that they gave to my wife and me didn’t cost them a penny. It was offered freely and eagerly as they sang the children’s hymn, “This Little Light Of Mine,” during one of the Advent-Sunday church services. Each performance varied depending on the teacher and children in the choir, but that did not alter the poignancy of the event. One teacher taught the children the American Sign Language signs for the words to enhance the process of communion (intimate fellowship or rapport).

Whether by the combination of lyrics, melody and hand-signs, or some mysterious indwelling of spirit, the song never failed to magically light up the church and raise the spirits of the parishioners.

Each face shone like a heavenly cherub; each voice exulted with joy. Their eyes sparkled and danced and revealed that they understood that they were doing something extraordinary and were eager to share.

These were otherwise normal kids capable of being bratty, selfish and naughty, however, while they were singing “Little Light” they transcended typical childish behavior.

Their faces radiated the purity of innocence. In the moment, they were not corrupted by fear, doubt or cynicism. They had no idea of what metaphors were, but that didn’t matter. They were not like lights, they were living lights and each beacon of love was palpable.

Sadly, like little Jackie Paper, of “Puff The Magic Dragon” fame, by the ages of 8-10 children are usually no longer interested in singing in a children’s choir. During their teens they often become too sophisticated to indulge in childhood songs.

Typically, this spiritual regression continues into adulthood where most adults lose all interest or ability to see themselves as “little lights that shine.”

Just in case you have never heard the song, or you are open to a little Christmas cheer, I have attached a video of The Soweto Gospel Choir. These African adults are not too shy, jaded or prideful to launch themselves into the spirit of Christmas:

“Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

It is intriguing to wonder if John Muir sang “This Little Light Of Mine” with his beloved daughters Helen and Wanda. However it has been authenticated that he thoroughly enjoyed taking them outside each night to contemplate [make a temple with] the stars before their bedtime. Based on his numerous expository themes on Nature, it would be easy to connect the dots and infer that he saw his daughters as stars, “glorious sparks of the Divine:” Little lights that were destined to shine.

Merry Christmas,

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving—John Denver—Country Roads

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Music was one of the greatest spiritual components of the Biodesign Class. Voltaire suggested; “Music is a pathway to the heart” and after living with the Native people of New Guinea, Alfred Wallace concluded that music was a part of their soul.

Whether I had a collective subconscious relationship with John Denver (or not) will remain a mystery. What is not a mystery, however, is that his song “Country Roads” became a huge hit shortly before the Biodesign Class was born. He died in a tragic plane crash, two days before my birthday and four months after Biodesign was terminated. My wife shared his birthday.

More importantly, Country Roads became a theme song for the Biodesign Class. It was clearly the favorite song to be sung around the evening campfires. The combination of the catchy melody and nostalgic lyrics; “Take me home, country roads, to the place, I belong…” never failed to move or transcend curious young minds.

For the first half of US history, 95% of the people lived on country farms and in rural areas, while 5% of the population lived in urban areas. Over the last half of our history the number has flipped; 95% of the people live in urbanized areas and 5% live in rural areas. The migration into urban areas has had its advantages, however, conversely, there have been many losses.

I doubt that very few people would describe New York City, Boston or Chicago as, “almost heaven.” The noise, pollution, crime—grime and gaudiness are more often antithetic to the natural peace and tranquility that is common in country living.

Following Henry Thoreau, the BIodesisgn students “went to the woods to live deliberately” and hopefully discover what John Muir meant; “In God’s wildness lies the hope of the world—the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness. The galling harness of civilization drops off and the wounds heal ere we are aware.”

Each time we sang “Country Roads” around a campfire I could see the “the galling harness of civilization” dropping off of the students as their spirits rose with Yosemite mountains, soared over Grand Canyon or joyfully surfed the waves onto Mendocino Beaches.

Mike Sutton’s creative video-medley reveals that no other genre of music has drawn together such a diverse and talented group of musicians who triumphantly express their zest for life through music. It is as if “Country Roads” has brought them all together for a huge, glorious Thanksgiving celebration.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Descartes—Skepticism—Faith

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Whether Rodin’s sculpture of “The Thinker” was generic or not, it was a perfect complement to Rene Descartes’ life, legacy and accomplishments.

There is an old joke that pokes fun at Paris’ “Left-Bank” existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre. Sartre was enjoying a cup of espresso at a sidewalk café when the waiter asked him if he would like a refill. Sartre responded, “I think not” and he disappeared!

Of all the scientists, saints, poets and philosophers we studied in the Biodesign Class, Rene Descartes was truly one of my favorites. My admiration for him is not only rooted in what he believed and accomplished, but his revolutionary approach to education. His passion for learning inspired me to press on and collaborate with students in pioneering a one-of-a-kind Biodesign program.

At the age of 18 Descartes experienced a major epiphany that revealed that everything he thought he knew was the result of other men’s thinking. Ergo he vowed: … “never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgment than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt.”

 

Through the daunting process of reeducation, Descartes became a world-famous mathematician, scientist and philosopher. He was arguably the first major philosopher in the modern era to make a serious effort to defeat skepticism. His views about knowledge and certainty, as well as his views about the relationship between mind and body have been very influential over the last three centuries.

He began by questioning his own existence and concluded: “Cogito ergo sum, I think therefore I am.” From that beginning, he went on to reason that art can never exceed the skill of the artist and that the creation cannot be more intelligent than the creator, therefore there must be a more intelligent being than he.

Descartes’ work provided the basis for the calculus developed by Newton and Leibniz, who applied infinitesimal calculus to the tangent line problem, thus permitting the evolution of that branch of modern mathematics. His rule of signs is also a commonly used method to determine the number of positive and negative roots of a polynomial.

 

 

Descartes also wrote a response to external world skepticism. He argued that sensory perceptions came to him involuntarily, and are not willed by him. They were external to his senses, and evidence of the existence of something outside of his mind, and thus, an external world. He went on to show that the things in the external world are material by arguing that God would not deceive him as to the ideas that are being transmitted, and that God has given him the “propensity” to believe that such ideas are caused by material things. He gave reasons for thinking that waking thoughts are distinguishable from dreams, and that one’s mind could not have been “hijacked” by an evil demon placing an illusory external world before one’s senses.

 

“By ‘God’, I understand, a substance which is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both myself and everything else that exists. All these attributes are such that, the more carefully I concentrate on them, the less possible it seems that they could have originated from me alone. So, from what has been said it must be concluded that God necessarily exists.”

Albert Einstein wrote that it is not the immensity of the universe that should command our wonder, but the human brain that can begin to contemplate the immense universe.

In a similar manner, the purpose of studying Rene Descartes was not to inject religion into an advanced biology class, but to consider the thoughts and discoveries of one of the world’s greatest mathematicians, thinkers and philosophers and how he arrived at them. Descartes’ discoveries helped enable Isaac Newton to establish the foundation for modern physics. Einstein regarded Newton as the greatest scientist of all: ergo Descartes was a pivotal player in the evolution of Western Civilization.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Sex Ed in Nevada Fall Pool

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Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk, chap. 26, “Soul Medicine.”

“Many of the most sacred moments in Biodesign occurred through laughter. Their laughter was of the highest order, showing no sign of being grubby, pornographic, cruel, or mean-spirited. They laughed easily and often, especially at the many intimately embarrassing moments incurred while studying, traveling, and camping together. Their laughter was contagious and healing.

On one of the visits to the pool beneath Yosemite’s Nevada Falls, the guys were the first to jump in. The icy-cold water produced yelps and gasps. One of the guys asked his buddy, “Are you squinching?” Whether they had heard the term or not, all the guys immediately understood and burst into laughter. The girls looked on with puzzled expressions. One of them finally asked, “What is “squinching?” This produced more laughter, and finally, one of the guys said, “You should ask Mr. Young.”

I remembered a conversation with a French teacher-colleague of mine who spent a summer in France. When I asked about the highlight of her trip, she said, “I was standing in the Louvre, admiring Michelangelo’s statue of David, and I suddenly burst into rapturous laughter. It occurred to me that after God created Adam, he said, ‘Oops, I almost forgot! You will need two of these and one of these.’ The people around me must have thought I was a nut.” I shared the story and said she might be right.

The event provided a natural opportunity to describe, but not explain, one of nature’s many bizarre mysteries. Embryonic testicles originate in males in the same area that ovaries originate in females. During gestation, they are programmed to migrate down and out of the lower abdomen. In cases where this does not happen, the organs will not function properly. Apparently, the normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees is too warm. The problem was solved by moving them out of the body, allowing them to cool slightly. They can, however, become overly cold, and when this happens, males “squinch”. The scrotum shrinks and draws the testicles close to, or even up into, the lower abdomen. It was too much information for some of the girls, but most joined the guys in laughter.”

Although the event was uproariously funny, at a deeper level it pointed to the quintessential mystery of how every human being began his/her journey on Earth. Against unfathomable odds of time and space in the universe, each of us began during an extraordinarily mysterious moment when one sperm (out of approximately 300 million) united with one egg (out of about 400) to emerge as a once-in-a universe individual.

Just like the theoretical impossibility of any two snowflakes being alike, no two humans will ever be identical. Even so-called identical twins are not identical because they begin to affect each other’s behavior very early in their respective embryonic development. People who get to know identical twins often regard them as only slightly more alike that sisters or brothers.

“Self-actualization” just might be the spiritual correlation of Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. If so, when people discover how “fearfully and wonderfully made” they are, they too may be inspired to run down the street yelling “Eureka!” “I have found Me!”

This event would have delighted, but probably not totally surprised naturalist Loren Eiseley who wrote, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Yin-Yang—Divine Green Slime—Biodesign

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The two quintessential decisions that led to the birth of the Biodesign Class at St. Helena High School were adopting John Muir as our primary mentor and planning a six-day trip to Yosemite N.P. to explore what he was writing about. In preparation for each trip we pondered The Wilderness World Of John Muir (edited by Edwin Teale). In his introduction, Teal noted that although Muir belonged to no organized religion, he was deeply religious and boldly credited God for creating Earth and the universe. Furthermore, he wrote: “He was by turn a scientist, a poet, a mystic, a philosopher, a humorist. Because he saw everything, mountains and streams and landscapes, as evolving, unfinished, in the process of creation, there is a pervading sense of vitality in all he wrote.”

The two operative words were “evolving” and “creation.” Although beautifully written, Teale presented me with the dilemma of how to introduce public high school students to Muir’s philosophy without violating the spirit of the law separating church and state. The emerging class embraced the freedom to discuss all things biological, which included a thoughtful, unbiased, approach to the great evolution debate.

In a wonderfully ironic twist, a partial solution to our dilemma came from ancient China. The Chinese yin-yang philosophy describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Yin-yang philosophy can be applied to the great debate of creationism vs. Darwin’s theory of evolution. The Universe, including all forms of life, is in a constant process of evolving, yet everything that evolves had to be created.

Although most students grasped the yin-yang concept, understandably, many had difficulty visualizing any possible physical—spiritual interaction. Most were not satisfied with the current scientific explanation of evolution being the result of random chance and competition. In a perfectly timed synchronicity, while one class was pondering the Muir—Darwin dichotomy, S.F. Chronicle legendary columnist, Art Hoppe, wrote the following column.

Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk, Chap. 11, Matthew. The Landlord’s Slime.

Scene: The Heavenly Real Estate Office.

The Landlord, humming to himself, is craning forward to hang a mediocre-sized galaxy of a hundred billion suns on the far edge of the cosmos. His business agent, Mr. Gabriel, enters, golden trumpet in hand.

Gabriel: Excuse me, sir. A noisy debate’s broken out on that planet Earth. The tenants are fighting over how the place was made.

Landlord: (frowning) Earth? Let’s see … Is that the one I patched together out of drifting stardust, rainbow wisps, and a few million snatches of birdsong?

Gabriel: No, that was Arcturus 4673-a.

Landlord: Good me! After a couple of zillion, it’s hard to recall exactly how …

What do the tenants say?

Gabriel: Well, the fundamentalists say that you created the whole shebang in six days with sort of a wave of your hand.

Landlord: (nodding) Yes, yes, I could have done it that way.

Gabriel: But the scientists claim that it evolved over 4 billion years.

Landlord: Six days? Four billion years? What’s the difference, Gabriel?

Gabriel: That’s easy for you to say, sir; you’re not in a hurry. But to their finite little minds, it’s an eternity.

Landlord: How do the scientists think life began?

Gabriel: The scientists say it could have started when some free- floating chemicals, perhaps in a tide pool, were zapped by a bolt of lightning.

Landlord: Ah! That sounds like me.

Gabriel: This created microscopic one-celled life-forms, which soon evolved into a thimbleful of green slime. Really, sir, why would you create green slime? It sounds sacrilegious.

Landlord: If it’s my green slime, it’s divine green slime.

Gabriel: Yes, sir. Anyway, you apparently told the green slime to go forth and multiply.

Landlord: “Go forth and multiply, green slime!” I like the ring to that.

Gabriel: Well, it certainly did multiply. According to the scientists, it multiplied into paramecia and sea worms and oysters and fish and great whales.

Landlord: How wonderful!

Gabriel: And at long last, the scientists say, the fish crawled up on the land to become the fowl of the air and the beasts of the field.

Landlord: How dramatic!

Gabriel: Finally the beasts stood erect as hairy, apelike creatures who …

Landlord: (thoughtfully) Perhaps I should have stopped there.

Gabriel: … in the end became man.

Landlord: What a lovely, lovely story, Gabriel. When I think of all the fish of the sea, the beasts of the land, the fowl of the air in all their shapes so singular and strange, in all their myriad colors, dappled and striped and iridescent, swimming and slithering and soaring … All this emerging from a thimbleful of green slime! I … What was that argument about again, Gabriel?

Gabriel: Basically, sir, it’s over whether children in school should be taught to believe in cold, scientific facts or you—ordained miracles.

Landlord: I know that, Gabriel (frowning), but what’s the difference?

Hoppe’s column was a brilliant allegory, which arrived at a perfect time. He not only used satire to illuminate the absurdity of the debate, but his “Landlord” aligned with Muir’s philosophy. I firmly believe that the column should be shared with every high school and university biology student.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Thoreau—King Solomon—Pete Seeger

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60 years ago, I was walking down the hallway of my SFSU college dorm and met a dorm mate. He looked at me and said, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity sayeth the preacher.” I was a nominal Christian and had no idea of what he meant. 60 years later, I just came across the same quote, laughed uproariously and wrote this piece.

Perhaps Henry Thoreau read King Solomon’s “Ecclesiastes” chaps 2 and 3 and wrote:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

In King Solomon’s “Old Testament” book of “Ecclesiastes,” he reflected on how he had spent his life.

“I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven in the few years of their lives.
I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
I made gardens and parks for myself and planted all kinds of fruit trees.
I bought male and female slaves; I possessed flocks and herds larger that all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Also, I collected gold and silver for myself.
I provided for myself, male and female singers and the pleasures of men and many concubines.
Thus I considered all of my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving for wind and there was no profit under the sun.
Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”

 

However, even though Solomon ends chapter two, chasing the wind, in chapter three he records one of the most famous passages in the Bible. Intriguingly, it is still used at weddings and funerals.

In a wonderful synchronicity, in the early 1960s, folk singer Pete Seeger added a few words to the passage and along with his melody produced, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” At that time Seeger considered himself an atheist, so it is interesting how it occurred that he chose a Bible verse for a song.

Seeger’s voice was probably best suited for campfire sing-alongs, but in another synchronicity the singing group, “The Byrds,” recorded his song. Turn-Turn-Turn is the only popular song, with almost purely Biblical lyrics, to reach the top of the US music charts.

I don’t know if the song affected Seeger’s religious perspective, but he later wrote:

“I feel most spiritual when I’m out in the woods. I feel part of nature or looking up at the stars. I used to say I was an atheist. Now I say, it’s all according to your definition of God. According to my definition of God, I’m not an atheist. Because I think God is everything. Whenever I open my eyes I’m looking at God. Whenever I’m listening to something I’m listening to God.”

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Seeger received many awards for his humanitarian work, especially encouraging people to strive for world peace, celebrate life and sing more.

In an increasingly more secularized and polarized society, all of these are becoming more difficult. When was the last time you sat around a campfire and sang songs like Country Roads, Blowin’ In The Wind, or Turn—Turn—Turn?

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

A Modern Easter Story?

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In an increasingly secular society, it is intriguing to wonder how people respond to Pierre Chardin’s observation:

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Do they agree or disagree? Are they shocked, offended or inspired?

Dr. Albert Schweitzer must have agreed by suggesting that many people are naively unaware of the depth and scope involving human spirituality. World-renown anthropologist Loren Eiseley likened the spiritual path of humans to a journey:

“The journey is immense, difficult, at times impossible, yet that will not deter some of us from attempting it.”

Henry Thoreau described the human experience as, “sauntering towards the Holy Land.”

Whether she knew it or not, all of these factors converged in the mind of a high school senior in the Biodesign Class at St. Helena High School.

Cindy was a large-framed-girl who suffered from debilitating bouts with acute asthma that could be triggered by even moderate physical exercise. Understandably she was not keen on hiking. These facts underscore the courage that she mustered by attempting to hike from Yosemite Valley to the top of Half Dome, in one day, with a full backpack. The hike is 10 miles long with a 5,000 ft. rise and considered challenging for seasoned backpackers.

Her epic journey is detailed in Biodesign Out For A Walk, but it took her 14 hours of exhausting labor to reach the top. Against all rational odds, she refused to be denied.

She later described her ordeal as a transcending experience, however, it failed to move her into an awareness of the God that she felt John Muir described. I was not aware of the fact, but this doubt haunted her for the next 5 months until The Biodesign Class traveled to the Mendocino Coast. Our goals were to explore plant and animal communities as well as the ethos of the area.

A typical day involved exploring various ecosystems and visiting local residents who lived in harmony with Nature. After dinner, the students sat in a circle around a campfire, sang traditional folk songs and shared reflections from their journals. We were more concerned with macro-ecological and experiential perspectives than memorizing minutiae.

On the last evening of Cindy’s trip, she approached me as I was preparing the campfire. In spite of all the wonders she had seen, she was in a melancholic mood and shared her frustration with not being able to connect with her Higher Power. I suggested that spiritual guidance was not in my job description and that she might want to seek advice from a local priest or pastor when we returned home. However, on a whim, I surprised myself by asking her if she had asked “The Great Mystery” if He/She existed. I didn’t think I was violating the law that separates Church and State. Understandably she looked puzzled and left me to my fire preparation.

With about 35 students and chaperones sitting around the fire, I did not realize that Cindy was missing. When all the journal sharings were done and the last song had been sung, students drifted off to their tents or down to the beach.

I was busy securing the “chuck wagon” when Cindy suddenly appeared. She was wearing a huge smile and her melancholic mood had transformed into a radiant aura. She looked like she had a huge secret and blurted out, “I have something to show you!” Then she quickly grabbed my arm and hurried me along a trail into the woods. About 100 feet out she stopped abruptly, giggled and asked, “Are you ready?”

I had no idea of what I was supposed to be ready for, but gamely said, “Go for it.” She handed me her flashlight and instructed me to shine it on her hands. I followed her instructions and in a flash I was like a “deer in the headlights.” My palms got clammy and my knees knocked together uncontrollably. What I was seeing were two very delicate palms, each with a ½ inch bright red spot seemingly tattooed in the middle. They were about as normal as flying pigs and I had no idea of what they were or what to say.

When I finally partially regained my senses, she giggled again and said, “They’re pretty cool, don’t you think?” I tried to respond but my brain could not process what my eyes were seeing and my mouth would not form words. I think I made a senseless guttural sound.

She was obviously enjoying the moment and offered further: “They were hot at first, but they have cooled down now, would you like to touch them?” I was totally befogged, but some primal guidance factor indicated that it would be highly inappropriate for me to touch her palms. The truth is, however, her suggestion was terrifying and I wanted to escape back to camp. There was nothing in my six years of university education (including a Masters degree in teaching biology) that prepared me for this event. I pondered whether the spots were physical, mental or spiritual; real, imaginary or symbolic and got no resolution.

After that, there is a blank space in my memory. I don’t remember going back to camp or crawling into my sleeping bag. I do remember a dream involving a debate between my right and left brain. I was excited about Cindy’s discovery (what ever it was), however, I feared that if news of the event made it back to school administrators or the school board, I would be fired immediately.

Fortunately, the events of the next morning quickly removed any fear that Cindy’s secret would become public knowledge. I got up early and began rousting the breakfast crew. Cindy bounded out of her tent, rushed over to me, boldly displayed her palms and blurted out, “look mom, no spots!” The comic relief was perfect and she followed it with one of the most wonderful hugs I have ever received.

Loren Eiseley spent much of his life exploring and describing the beauty and wonders of Mother Nature. His countless epiphanies enabled him to stay connected with his Higher Power. Perhaps, because of this, he typically avoided reducing his multitude of synchronicities to a three-letter-word. Instead, he preferred the more expansive term, “The Great Mystery.” In fact, the overarching theme in all 11 of his books is Mystery. In spite of man’s greatest achievements, the answers to the big questions of life and the universe remain veiled. Mystery reigns supreme.

I can’t think of anything more wonderfully mysterious (or scary) than a curious girl walking into the Mendocino woods and emerging with two bright red spots on her palms.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com