“At-onement”

Posted on November 8, 2022 Leave a Comment

“we are so both and oneful
night cannot be so sky
sky cannot be so sunful
i am through you so I”

e.e. cummings (100 Selected Poems)

Some of e.e. cummings fans regard this untitled poem as his finest work. However, with nearly 3,000 poems published, it might be a fool’s errand to judge.

However, what may not be debatable is that in his final stanza he playfully illuminates perhaps the quintessential truth about the human experience. Humans are social animals and need each other to survive (if not thrive) physically, mentally and spiritually.

Excrpt: Biodesign Ou For A Walk, chap.20, “Sasha.”

“He went on to say, “Living is quite an intimate process. We are all breathing the same air and interact socially, which involves a great gift. We have the potential to appreciate or improve the value of each other.”

This process may be as simple as a smile, pat on the back, a hug, or as profound as sharing wedding vows or comforting a friend following the death of a loved one. Modifying Howard Gardner’s, Multiple Intelligences, these were the pathways we used to enhance self-discovery, connectiveness, validation and appreciation.

Linguistic/body-language communication skills
Logic/mathematical/scientific skills
Visual/perception/artistic expression
Music/rhythm
Self-awareness through body movement
Spirituality
Socio-psychological awareness
Nature/transcending experiences

All of these can be summed up in the simple Zen koan:

“No two people have ever met and departed unchanged.”

Every person we have ever met left an imprint on us that contributed (small or large) to the person who we are becoming. Because the Biodesign Class was an advanced biology class, all eight pathways were applied from a biological perspective. Although all pathways are essential, Nature-study (the wilderness ethic) became the primary focus with the other pathways contributing as a supportive network. The literary works of Muir, Emerson, Darwin, Thoreau, Eiseley, Agassiz, Dillard etal served as our guides. It was almost automatic that students climbing to the top of Half Dome or hiking to the bottom of Grand Canyon went through transcending experiences.

The stunning photo of a rock climber striking a pose on a Grand Canyon pinnacle can be a good example. It would be impossible for this 81-year-old (grandfather of nine) to attempt to ascend the rock column. However, that fact does not preclude me from enriching my soul by vicariously celebrating the success of the climber. His image conjures up rich symbolism and a plethora of soulful emotions and aspirations. It is quite common for hikers reaching a mountain peak to raise their arms in a skyward exultation. Whether the raised arms symbolize opening their hearts to heaven or welcoming heaven into their hearts, the experiences are often life changing.

I’ve dangled my feet 4800’ above Yosemite Valley on the edge of Half Dome for nearly 30 times. Each time was unique, thrilling—transformative.

It is little wonder that Walt Whitman wrote:

“To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle.”

e.e. cummings would wholeheartedly agree and so do I.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

Maria’s Story: It’s About Time

Posted on October 3, 2022 Leave a Comment

“Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.” St. Augustine

One year, after discussing “The Big Bang Theory” in the Biodesign Class, unbeknownst to me, Maria, a thoughtful, shy Latina student went to church the following Sunday. After the service, she approached her priest and asked, “Father, if God made the Universe, who made God?” The priest’s face turned red, he stooped down and whispered sharply in her ear, “We don’t ask questions like that!;” pivoted on his heel and stormed off.

“Why did he get angry with me?” she asked.

Not unlike the local priest, there is a story that the Pope once asked Stephen Hawking not to try to inquire about what happened before the Big Bang, and Hawking agreed. Perhaps, not because he wanted to comply with the pope’s wishes, but because it is fundamentally impossible to find out something that happened before the beginning of time. It is as if we walked into a movie theater that had a movie running for 14 billion years and tried to understand how it began.

In 397 A-D, Augustine of Hippo wrote, Confessions: Thirteen books, which, according to some scholars, is the greatest collection of books other than the Holy Bible. It had a profound impact on the evolution of Christianity and Western Civilization.

He may have formulated the first known version of the “Big Bang” theory by pointing out, “there was no ‘then’ when there was no time” and “when God created the Heavens and the Earth, he created time itself as well.”

In his early studies, Einstein favored The Steady-state Theory which my students thought was lame because it failed to address the beginning of the Universe. Later he arrived at his General Theory of Relativity, one of the rules of which states that time is fundamentally bound to matter and gravity, and that without matter there would be no time. Although his approach was different, the general idea was proposed by Augustine 1550 years earlier.Photo:

In 1929 Einstein was no doubt influenced by a major breakthrough when astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered “The Red Shift Theory,” which led to the “Big Bang Theory.” At first, he was skeptical and quipped, “I find the idea of a Universe with a beginning irritating.”

When students asked me what I thought about the “Big Bang Theory,” I suggested that it just might be the ultimate synchronicity. It is an unparalleled event that has no known cause. Currently scientists generally agree that the Universe came from a particle of “super-matter” about the size of a grain of sand. Perhaps synchronicities are God’s way of playing with us.

A group of scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have spent billions of dollars searching for the “God Particle,” but have not succeeded. Although, in 2012 they discovered the Higgs boson particle, like all matter/energy its origin remains enigmatic. This would not surprise Meister Eckhart (13^th century mystic/scientist/philosopher) who predicted that the answers to the great mysteries of the Universe will not be solved by science.

As I approached presenting the “Big Bang Theory” to each new class, I did so with great hope and enthusiasm that the lesson would become a pivotal event in the students’ learning process. I proposed that if scientists were willing to proclaim that the Big Bang was the origin of the Universe, they should also be willing to allow that a diametrically opposed event, perhaps a “Gib Gnab,” was also possible. In that case the Universe would deconstruct itself back to a state of, not only universal entropy, but absolute nothingness; the total absence of space and time. It was not uncommon for students to respond; “You are putting my brain in a bind!”

Astrophysicist Robert Jastro (God and the Astronomers) opined; “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the last mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

There is little doubt that Albert Einstein, one of the world’s greatest scientific minds, understood this when he wrote:

“The scientists’ religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”

She may not have known it, but Maria was resonating with Einstein’s spirit:

“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

Miracle in an Old Barn

Posted on August 15, 2022 Leave a Comment

Cautiously emerging from Covid protocol practices, I was recently blessed to reconnect with a former teacher/colleague Gordon Anderson aka, Mr. A.—Gordy—Sir Gordo, who belongs to a pantheon of gifted math teachers. He fully understands that math can be a daunting discipline, especially for right-brain dominant students. He has an uncanny ability to help students make the necessary inter-cerebral connections that form the language of mathematics. However, perhaps more importantly, he assumed that it was his personal/professional responsibility to mathematically prepare each one of his students to succeed in the next phase of his/her life, academically or other. He became a legend during his tenure at SHHS.

We are both retired and so it was natural for us to wax nostalgically about the “good-old-days” that are certainly old but were not necessarily good.

In 1964, the salary of my first teaching job at Middletown High School was $4,800 per year. My take home check was $350 per month. This meant that I was paid less than $3.00 per hour for teaching classes of 30 students in biology and chemistry. Understandably, it was necessary for most young teachers to work at summer jobs to survive financially. I was able to learn carpentry skills and spent many summers building additions to friends’ homes.

After moving to St. Helena, I accepted a job on a friend’s home, seven miles east of town in the mountains above Lake Hennessey. While we were working together, we could hear two college boys (Adam and Scott) who were hired to repurpose an old barn on the neighboring property. There was much laughter and banter between the squeaks and creaks of the barn boards being dismanteled.

One day however, the laughter was interrupted when one of the boys screamed, “Call 911. Can you guys come over to help? We have a crisis here!” We quickly dropped our tool belts and raced to the scene of the plea for help.

As we arrived at the barn, Adam was frantically pointing at Scott’s foot. Scott stood perfectly still, with a sheepish grin on his face. I knelt down and what I saw nearly caused my stomach to lurch and my heart leapt into my throat. Evidently it was noontime and the boys were working on the 2^nd floor. They decided to prove their athletic prowess by leaping eight feet down to the lower floor.

Scott’s foot was standing on a board and the point of a 16-penny spike was protruding out of the top of his work boot. My mind raced to find a solution. I mentioned that it would take half an hour for an EMT to arrive and we couldn’t transport Scott to the closest ER with a board nailed to his foot; he was not experiencing pain, so I thought we should investigate cautiously.

And then, in a sort of “out-of-body-experience,” I heard my voice say, “Hand me the crowbar!” Adam yelped!, “Are you crazy!? You are not going to pry the boot off, are you!?”

However, he quickly acquiesced and handed me the crowbar. I gently slid the prying edge under the toe of Scott’s boot. With every ounce of tenderness that I could muster, I lowered the lever an inch. No movement resulted. We all watched intently during another inch down. I think I saw the boot raise a bit. Another inch down and this time the boot moved noticeably. Scott’s eyes began to open wider. Meanwhile, my heart was pounding and my sweaty palms were trembling. The next inch downward proved to be the pivot point and the boot lurched off the offending spike.

I quickly unlaced the boot for removal. We all expected to see blood gushing out of the sock, but it was dry. However, as soon as we could see the nail hole in the sock, Scot began to roar with laughter. This was not superficial titter, but cathartic belly-laughter. The other three of us found nothing to laugh about and feared that he may be going into shock and becoming delirious. After too long of a pause, Scott stopped laughing long enough to begin to reveal the ongoing mystery.

He said, “When I was in high school, during showers after gym class, my classmates would look at my feet and laugh. I was embarrassed, but there was nothing I could do and here is the reason why.”

He removed his sock and revealed a classic case of “arachnodactyly.” It is a rare genetic disorder which produces exaggerated length of fingers and toes; ergo “spider fingers” or “spider toes.” Suddenly, it was the three observers’ turn to laugh with relief and react with a dollop of schizophrenic disbelief.

As I floated back to our work site, I mumbled aloud, “I think we just witnessed a minor miracle.”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

Erin Sawyer Soper (A Candle In The Wind)

Posted on May 2, 2022 2 Comments

It turned out that fire was one of the most important elements in the Biodesign experience. Typically, every day of our studies at Yosemite and Mendocino ended with a circular celebration around a campfire. Often the combination of heat, light and the transformation of solid wood into gaseous flames served as a metaphor for mental transformation. The rising smoke mingled with the pine-scented air and surpassed the finest incense that is burned in the world’s greatest cathedrals.

We read excerpts from the great Naturalists, sang folk songs, told jokes and funny stories, but also shared reflections of revelations discovered during our days in the wilderness. Erin was shy and I noticed that she sat pensively not participating in the jubilant chatter. I wondered what she was thinking but respected her apparent need for privacy.

All of that changed on our final Yosemite campfire. They had slept under the stars the previous night on top of Half Dome and were basking in a spiritual afterglow. However, when there was a lull in the chatter, she timidly offered, “I like pinecones.” The three words hung in the chilled air and no one seemed to be sure how to process them. My first thought was an attempt at humor, but then I recalled, “still waters run deep.” Erin had a gentle spirit and I suspected that she was experiencing, not only a sensory overload, but channeling John Muir’s frustration when he wrote, “No amount of word-making will ever make a single soul to know these mountains.”

The news of Erin’s transcendence was shocking and reminded me of another of Muir’s aphorisms, only this one conjured up a comment from the Reverend Billy Graham: “Show me a marriage where there are no arguments and I will show you a marriage where one person is not necessary.” During my 60 years of walking and talking with John Muir, we have only had one argument and it involved Muir’s soliloquy on death:

“On no subject are our ideas more warped and pitiable than on death. Instead of sympathy, the friendly union of life and death so apparent in Nature, we are taught that death is an accident, a deplorable punishment for the oldest sin, the archenemy of life, etc. Town children, especially, are steeped in this death-orthodoxy, for the natural beauties of death are seldom seen or taught in towns … But let the children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and the grave has no victory, for it never fights. All is divine harmony.“

Although I fully understand the ecological importance of the circle of life and death, at the personal level, Muir’s philosophy is a total failure. Was he not heartbroken when his beloved Louie Wanda transcended before he did? Did he not experience the same devastation that the eminent scholar, CS Lewis described after the loss of his wife, in his classic book, A Grief Observed.

During our time together, Erin blessed me with the supreme gifts of camping on top of Yosemite’s world-famous Half Dome (when it was still legal) and sharing two nights at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of Grand Canyon. These experiences created the Shakespearean bond; “One touch of Nature and all men are kin.”

Photo: Erin at Irish Pub. Provided by Family.

She was one of the sweetest, most delightful students I have ever encountered. She wore a permanent smile and was not capable of uttering an unkind word. She possessed angelic qualities and will be sorely missed by her family, loved ones and students.

Therefore, I reluctantly bid farewell to Erin, but only for a while. I am looking forward to the Great Biodesign reunion in heaven where:

^“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21:4

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

The Love Of Words – The Words Of Love

Posted on April 12, 2022 Leave a Comment

( Easter Messages from Peter Roget and Sir Isaak Newton)

“Measured on the vast scale of the universe, the globe we inhabit appears but as an atom; and yet within the compass of this atom, what an inexhaustible variety of objects is contained; what and endless diversity of phenomena is presented; what wonderful changes are occurring in rapid and perpetual succession!” – Peter Roget

During her 30+ year career at St. Helena’s Main Street Books, my wife became an accomplished book whisperer who had an uncanny talent for matching readers with authors in a mystical way. I was most likely the primary beneficiary of her skill as she supplied me with scores of books that celebrate the physical, mental and spiritual interconnectedness of the fantastic world of “biology.”

This was the case when she discovered a gem of a children’s book which can delight adults as well. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, was written by Jen Bryant and beautifully illustrated by Melissa Sweet.

Roget was a post-renaissance British physician, thinker, natural theologian, lexicographer, seeker, inventor, and scientist. He understood that there were no scientific answers for the origin of the universe or the origin of life and was dedicated to celebrating the blessed mystery of it all.

Soul Brothers.

For 37 years I had the challenge of using words to communicate with students. Working with foreign exchange students showed me that many idioms and expressions were so deeply embedded in ethos that they could not be translated into another language. At the age of eight, Peter Roget began to understand this and started compiling words in groups of synonyms and related concepts to help him find the best possible way to communicate the message he wanted to impart. Over 40 million copies of his thesaurus have been sold and we kept a copy in the biology lab for ready reference.

“The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus” is a delight of information about Roget. He spent 50 years collecting words for his Thesaurus and was 73 when the first edition was published. 50 years ago, I began collecting “Quotable Quotes” from Reader’s Digest magazine. That humble beginning grew into a collection of scores of books and essays from John Muir, Loren Eiseley, Henry Thoreau, RW Emerson, Black Elk, Louis Agassiz, Annie Dillard, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Diane Ackerman, Edward Abbey, Dr. Scott Peck, Louis Thomas, Dr. Roger Sperry, John Steinbeck, Gretel Ehrlich etal.

Our library included a copy of, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, The Great Thoughts, by George Seldes and a cornucopia of quotes from scientists, sages, saints, sinners, and philosophers. I was nearly 70 years old when, Biodesign Out For A Walk, was published.

We both shared a deep love for the pure essence of being human and understood that certain words like love, spirit, soul, the-spark-of-life, and God defy definition.

The origin and application of the word “love” is perhaps the most beguiling and enigmatic of all. According to Chaim Bentorah; Hebrew Word Study: The Many Faces Of Love, there are 12 different words for “love” in the Hebrew language, each with a specific meaning. The Greek language includes “eros” “philos” and “agape” to describe sexual, brotherly, and spiritual love. “Making” love can include the sordid behavior of a prostitute or by adding “motherly” can refer to the unspeakably tender bond of a mother to child. Rumi noted: “We are born of love; love is our mother.” According to Google, there are 90 references in the Bible that claim, “God is love.” Eric Fromm (The Art of Loving) claimed that love is the only satisfactory explanation for human existence. In the current edition of Roget’s Thesaurus, there are 50 references to various kinds of love.

Albert Einstein offered: “Love is a better teacher than duty.”

Holistic Anthropologist, Loren Eiseley (The Immense Journey) opined that modern scientists have become “intoxicated by their success” and inferred that they are spiritually blinded by their egos.

And perhaps the greatest scientist of the world, Isaac Newton, wrote: “We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever.”

Roget saw the Earth as an “atom” and would appreciate the metaphor: “The Earth is an atom in the circulatory system of God.” Anon.

Blessings on this Easter Season.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Maria: “If God made the Universe, Who Made God?”

Posted on February 14, 2022 Leave a Comment

One year, after discussing “The Big Bang Theory” in the Biodesign Class, unbeknown to me, a quiet, thoughtful Latina girl went to church the following Sunday. After the service, she approached her priest and asked, “Father, if God made the universe, who made God?” The priest’s face turned red, he stooped down and whispered sharply in her ear, “We don’t ask questions like that,” turned on his heel and stomped off.

“Why did he get angry with me?” she asked.

Not unlike the local priest, there is a story that the Pope once asked Stephen Hawking not to try to inquire about what happened before the Big Bang, and Hawking agreed. Perhaps, not because he wanted to comply with the pope’s wishes, but because it is fundamentally impossible to find out something that happened before the literal beginning of time. It is as if we walked into a movie theater that had a movie running for 14 billion years and tried to understand how it began.

There may be no scientific proof for the existence of God, but 1600 years later, scientists have not been able to refute his theory. In fact, excepting the cause, it aligns well with the currently accepted “Big Bang” theory.

In his early studies, Einstein favored The Steady-state Theory which my students thought was lame because it failed to address the beginning of the universe. Later he arrived at his General Theory of Relativity, one of the rules of which states that time is fundamentally bound to matter and gravity, and that without matter there would be no time. Although the approach was different, the general idea was proposed by Augustine 1550 years earlier.

Yet antithetically, it was Augustine’s reconcilliation of the methods of the principles of Grecian philosophy and reason to the Christian concept of God that forced him to arrive at his conclusion. Democritus introduced the concept of, “atoma” (indivisible) to explain all matter without explaining a beginning. Plato and Aristotle both regarded time as being infinite, moving forward, without a beginning or end.

In 1929 Einstein was no doubt influenced by a major breakthrough when Edwin Hubble discovered “The Red Shift Theory” which led to the “Big Bang Theory.” At first, he was skeptical and quipped, “I find the idea of a Universe with a beginning irritating.”

When students asked me what I thought about the “Big Bang Theory,” I answered by suggesting that it just might be the quintessential synchronicity. It is an unparalleled event that has no known cause. Currently scientists tend to agree that the Universe came from a bit of “super-matter” about the size of a grain of sand. Ergo, Maria (and others) asked who/what made the grain of sand?

A group of scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research have spent billions of dollars searching for the “God Particle,” but have not succeeded. It is possible that they will never succeed.

According to 13^th century mystic/scientist/philosopher, Meister Eckhart, the answers to the great mysteries of the universe will not be solved by science.

My best explanation to students was that the “Big Bang” seems to be an event caused by a being, power or process that defies human understanding. I would playfully add that perhaps we should be concerned about a “GIB GNAB” event, the reverse of the Big Bang whereby “everything” in the universe returns to a grain of sand. Of course, if everything disappeared nothing would matter. LOL

It was exciting that Maria was in good company with the great Albert Einstein with her probing questions:

Theories, like people often evolve and Einstein’s spiritual awareness evolved to his conclusion:

“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

Favorite Einstein quotes:

https://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/einstein/

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Yogi Berra: When You Come To A Fork In The Road, Take It

Posted on January 26, 2022 Leave a Comment

People who know that Yogi Berra was a catcher for many years on the New York Yankees baseball team might wonder if he had sustained one too many foul balls caroming off his helmet. However, after further contemplation, perhaps he was playfully alluding to one of the greatest mysteries in human evolution and conjured up images of events described in the “O-T” book of Genesis. Whether the Creation Story is real, imaginary or symbolic, it clearly makes the case for the human gift of free will.

The term “gift’ was used because Nobel Laureate/ brain specialist, Dr. Roger Sperry wrote:

“Consciousness, free will and values: three long-standing thorns in the hide of science. They are in direct conflict with the basic models. Science has had to deny their existence.”

The mystery appears to have begun circa 50,000 years ago with the emergence of Homo sapiens (wise person). In addition to upright walking and reduced dimorphism, Homo sapiens’ brain tripled in size making it three times larger than chimpanzees (our nearest primate relative). Charles Darwin angrily admitted to Alfred Wallace that he had no explanation for the extraordinary enigma. Anthropologist Loren Eiseley described the rapid growth as, “like a mushroom growing in the night.” The greatest growth occurred in the cerebral cortex, including the cerebral hemispheres. The left brain is associated with language, mathematical and logic functions and right brain associated with artistic, spatial and creative functions. Significant growth also occurred in the limbic system which involves emotional regulation, memory formation and recall, sexual behavior regulation and learning.

The frontal lobe also increased dramatically, which is the center for consciousness, complex decision making and social behavior. One of the quintessential brain functions involves gender dimorphism which is essential for sexual reproduction which is necessary for species survival and ongoing evolution.

Photo credit: www.publicdomainpictures.net

The result of the rapid brain evolution marked the beginning of man being able to discern light from darkness, good from evil and that he had the freedom to choose his pathways. The enlargement of the cerebral cortex also marked the decline of instinct as a controlling factor in human behavior. With decreased instinctive control, humans incurred a greater responsibility for determining the best pathways for their survival: Ergo; “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Robert Frost broached the issue with his delightful poem, The Road Not Taken and Dr. Scott Peck wrote his hugely successful, The Road Less Travelled.

“Perhaps no book in this generation has had a more profound impact on our intellectual and spiritual lives than The Road Less Traveled. With sales of more than seven million copies in the United States and Canada, and translations into more than twenty-three languages, it has made publishing history, with more than ten years on the New York Times bestseller list.” (Yahoo Search).

However, according to William James, widely regarded as the father of American psychology, James Allen’s book, As A Man Thinketh, represents one of the greatest discoveries in the 19^th century.

“James Allen’s philosophy became possible when liberal Protestantism discarded the stern dogma that man is sinful by nature. It substituted for that dogma an optimistic belief in man’s innate goodness and divine rationality.” (Hallmark Editions)

His philosophy was based on a blend of Christian and Buddhist beliefs:

The Buddha teaches, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought” and the Biblical proverb, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7)

He summarized his beliefs in a terse, yet powerful poem:

Mind is the Master power that molds and makes,

And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:

He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

Environment is but his looking glass.

Evidently Charles Darwin agreed with Allen when he wrote in, The Descent Of Man:”

“The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize

that we ought to control our thoughts.”

Perhaps it should not be surprising that, along with the creation of the universe, the origin of Homo sapiens’ brain remains shrouded in “the cloud of unknowing.” Meanwhile, every day we are presented with 1000s yes/no, right/wrong, good/evil and life/death decisions and the quality and direction of our life will depend on the choices we make as we address each “fork in the road.”

Note: The average length of English words is five letters. Therefore, the 770 words in this text contain about 4,000 letters. Writing this essay required at least five revisions to correct spelling, grammar and syntax. This means that approximately 20,000 literary forks had to be addressed in order to complete this blog.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Divine Light In Grand Canyon

Posted on December 15, 2021 Leave a Comment

“The Canyon is even more wonderful in color and atmosphere than in rock strata and countersunk River. It is not the eighth wonder of the world, but the first.” – John Van Dyke: Author, The Grand Canyon Of The Colorado

Thirty St. Helena High School Biodesign students shivered on a brisk February morning outside the Cantina at Grand Canyon’s Phantom Ranch. The sun had not risen above the South Rim of The Canyon and the sky was a perfect cobalt blue. The rarefied air converged with the desert elements and made it a great day to be alive.

The ethos of the group was a mélange of optimism, excitement and a bit of trepidation. After all, they were about to embark on what would likely be the greatest hike they would ever attempt. The 10-mile length was not unusually excessive, but the 4,500’ vertical gain challenges most seasoned hikers. I suspected that in the back of every hiker’s mind lurked the fear of not being able to make it out and have to be rescued by a mule. Even some of the chaperones seemed anxious about the hike. I had the benefit of 12 previous hikes and concluded that, ideally, a person should hike Grand Canyon twice; once to prove that it can be done and the second time to savor the mystery and wonders it offers.

Typically, I acted as “trail sweep” so as I strolled down to Bright Angel trailhead, I was surprised to see Sasha (exchange student from Croatia). He was smiling broadly and asked if I were up for the hike.

As we chatted along the trail, the difficult climb up Pipe Creek Canyon, seemed to breeze by. He looked up 1,000’ to the overlook at Plateau Point and asked if we would be going there. I replied that the overlook was on a side-branch trail that would add three miles to our demanding hike and I did not think we should risk it.

We eased up to Indian Gardens about an hour earlier than my normal schedule. Noting this, Sasha asked one more time if we could go out to “The Point.” I shrugged, grinned and said, “OK, let’s go for it.”

Fifteen minutes later we arrived at Plateau Point. Standing on the brink of the 1300’ inner gorge was breathtaking. The once-raging Colorado River, now lazed quietly along below us. However, after a few minutes Sasha did something very strange. He raised his arms heavenward and boldly exclaimed, “I want to see a storm!” I doubted that he had any Messianic powers, but I sidled a few feet away just in case. On our way out I noticed the clouds moving in, but with an average annual rainfall of <4”, I had no worries. Suddenly, however, the wind stiffened and began to blow; the sky darkened around us and it began to rain huge drops. This lasted several minutes and then, IT HAPPENED! The light around us turned brilliantly gold. I looked at Sasha and his face and body were gold. I held out my hand and it was gold. We were somehow engulfed in an otherworldly event. Then, in about the same amount of time the storm began, it subsided. The golden light vanished, the clouds scudded away and the sun shone brightly in a beautiful azure sky. Neither one of us knew what happened, but intuitively understood that miracles (by definition) are beyond human comprehension and render words useless.

As we trudged back to Bright Angel Trail, I recalled St. Paul’s mystical encounter on the road to Damascus and offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving. The experience put some pep in my step and the 3,000’ foot ascent up the outer gorge seemed easier than previous years.

We arrived at the South Rim about 2-3 hours after the first hikers topped out. My loving wife was there to greet us and the first thing she said was, “Did you find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow”? Both Sasha and I reflected bewilderment. Seeing our confusion, she continued. “When two ant-like creatures inched out to Plateau Point, I was pretty sure it was you two. Shortly after you got there a storm began to brew. The wind picked up, it got dark and gloomy and it began to rain. And then suddenly, a beautiful rainbow arched over The Canyon and one end seemed to be right over you guys.” Both of our faces effused euphoria, but we were still in a state of wordless shock.

And then I recalled one of my favorite Grand Canyon legends. Evidently two Caucasian cowboys were the first white people to discover Grand Canyon. They were rounding up some stray cows when they chanced upon the Canyon Rim. They sat in their saddles, spellbound for a while, before one of them muttered,

“Something happened here.”

Sasha nodded in approval and we tacitly agreed that those three words were perfect for our miracle: “Something happened there!”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Photos:

Sunburst

Phantom Ranch

Plateau Point

Rainbow over GC

Love—Laughter—Playfulness Under Nevada Fall

Posted on November 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

“Heaven knows that John the Baptist was not more eager to get all his fellow sinners into the Jordan than I to baptize all of mine in the beauty of God’s mountains.” – John Muir

No other naturalist, before or after John Muir has reached his lofty status of being able to decipher and communicate the physical, mental and spiritual essences of Yosemite National Park. He could not have known English poet, W.H. Auden, but by writing, “Yosemite is a place to play and a place to pray,” he clearly understood Auden’s premise that “carnival” (the human world of Laughter and Play) is closely related to the world of Worship and Prayer.

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

Typically, on warm autumn days, the nearly 5,000 ft. descent from the top of Half Dome to the base camp in Yosemite Valley produced hot and sweaty hikers. A dip in the snow-melt pool beneath Nevada Fall usually offered refreshing relief. On one of visits the guys were the first to jump in. The icy-cold water produced yelps and gasps. One of them asked his buddy; “Are you squinching?” Whether they had heard the term or not, all the guys immediately understood and burst into boisterous belly-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 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 her story and said she might be right.

The event provided a natural opportunity to describe, but not explain, one of nature’s most intriguing mysteries. Human embryonic male testicles originate 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 for sperm production. 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 hilarious 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 Planet Earth. Against unfathomable odds of time and space, each one 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 zygote. Lewis Thomas, MD, author of “Lives Of A Cell,” suggests that the biomolecular mysteries of forming a zygote are so vast and complex that they may remain forever beyond human comprehension; ergo, the miracle of life.

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 (epigenesis). People who get to know identical twins often regard them as only slightly more alike than sisters or brothers.

Twenty years after the waterfall event, the world-famous Dahm triplets rocked the scientific world. They opted to have their ancestry analyzed to confirm their Nordic heritage. The results confirmed their theory but revealed a blockbuster clue. All three have British/Irish genes as well as French/German genes. That was not so surprising, but what was intriguing was that each had a different percentage of the minority genes.

It is doubtless that the original sperm and ovum that produced the triplets contained latent genetic information that dated back thousands of years. It is likely that the mitotic process that produced them involved replicating over 1 billion nucleotides, some of which were not transcribed identically. This means that the “identical triplets” are not perfectly identical. This closely relates to Charles Darwin’s discovery of genetic variation which is a key component of evolution.

During the evening, after the momentous event, the students were huddled together around the campfire sharing reflections of their day. One of the girls read from her journal, “I have never felt cleaner in my life!”

Little wonder Muir wanted all of his followers to be baptized in Yosemite’s waterfalls.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Socrates-Jesus Bugs

Posted on November 3, 2021 Leave a Comment

“The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.” Socrates

I suspect that this is one of Socrates’ most commonly misunderstood quotes. When I posted it in the bio lab, it usually sparked lively discussions. It was not uncommon for a student to quip, “If this is so, then why bother?”

The answer was that Socrates was not saying that knowledge wasn’t important, quite the contrary. He was saying that the more he learned, the more his sense of mystery, awe and wonder of the Universe grew.

This thought emerged when I watched the intriguing Nature Conservancy video on water striders produced by entomologist Matt Miller.

https://blog.nature.org/science/2017/04/10/7-cool-facts-water-striders-skippers-pond-skaters-weird-nature/

Water striders are common residents of ponds, streams and marshes throughout Europe and North America. There are about 1700 known species and some live in ocean ecosystems. To the casual observer, striders are interesting because they are among the few animals that can walk on water, ergo; Jesus Bugs. Few observers, however, can even begin to comprehend just what they are seeing, especially if the insects are mating.

Firstly, every strider is made up of approximately 500 million cells. Each cell is made up of 20 trillion atoms, which is 100X the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. All of these trillions of atoms have to be organized to perfection in order for the strider to survive. The atoms are arranged into molecules, cells, tissues, organs and at least 10 systems that allow the animal to eat, breath, excrete waste and reproduce.

However, the overarching Socratic question is, “What do these animals know?” Or, more precisely, what level of consciousness and or free will do they possess? Are the striders totally preprogrammed by the mostly unknown phenomenon called instinct? If so, what is the origin of the controlling organizational force? Biologists have made huge strides in describing the role of DNA in creating biological structures, however, almost nothing has been discovered as to how DNA can be pre-programed to organize perhaps terabytes or exabytes of incoming sensory impulses necessary for behavioral activities. This astronomical amount of information must be processed, and decisions must be made in order to direct another astronomical number of motor responses necessary for the striders to survive.

Although most biological functions are done independently, mating greatly complicates the task because two animals are involved. Miller explains some of the rudiments of the mating act, however, he does not approach the mystery of what (if any) consciousness the insects possess. Furthermore, he implies that, during mating, the female is forced into submission due to fear of being eaten, however, it is well known that striders secret a pheromone that serves as a repellant to predators. Fish will typically only eat striders to avoid starvation.

Other accounts indicate that, by tapping her legs on the water, the female can communicate at least three different messages, including her intention to mate. Having done this, she removes her prophylactic shield and allows mating to occur. Does this mean that she can make a judgment about the genetic fitness of her mate; which would better guarantee the success of her offspring?

And of course the two greatest questions are:

Are the water striders, with all of their complex and wondrous structures and functional behavior, totally unaware automatons that evolved through a process of random chance and competition?” Or perhaps, paraphrasing anthropologist Loren Eiseley, the striders are the result of, “the eternal mystery, the careful finger of God.”

In either case, far more questions than answers remain about water striders. Socrates would have celebrated the mystery and joyfully proclaimed:

“The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Photo credits:

Wasserlaufer.com