Summer Solstice—Strawberry Moon—John Muir—Psalms of the Earth

Posted on June 20, 2016 2 Comments

Although today is the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere) we have already lost 2 minutes of daylight in the morning and in about two weeks the Earth will begin its tilting process that will lead to the autumnal equinox in September.

For 1000s of years, people have used the stars as guides for physical, mental and spiritual direction. In terms of oceanic and land travel, this guidance can be a matter of life and death. Proper attention to seasonal changes could also be a matter of survival. However some observations may be more playful as in the case of tonight’s Strawberry Moon. “Strawberry Moon” is the title some Native Americans have used for the full moon that occurs in June, which marks the beginning of strawberry season.

Although physical survival is of paramount importance, for thousands of years people have been aware of the importance of religious and or spiritual traditions for personal and community survival. Although the terms religion and spirituality may not be interchangeable, I find it intriguing that the origin of the word “religion” is biological. The word derives from the Latin, “re-ligare.” Literally, this means to re-apply ligaments to hold your spiritual life together. There are countless ways of doing this, however naturalists like Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, etal recommended “going for a walk” into Nature for “recreation” or perhaps a “religious,” or “born again” experience.

Although John Muir knew all of the Old Testament (and Psalms by heart) he kept a tattered pocket-version of the New Testament (with the Psalms) with him on all of his adventures.
In “The Wilderness World of John Muir,” Edwin Way Teale wrote:

“Repelled by the harsh fanaticism of his father’s religion, John Muir belonged to no church. He gave freely when solicited by Protestant and Catholic alike. But he affiliated himself with no formal creed. Yet he was intensely religious. The forests and the mountains formed his temple. His approach to all nature was worshipful. He saw everything evolving yet everything the direct handiwork of God. There was a spiritual and religious exaltation in his experiences with nature. And he came down from the mountains like some bearded prophet to preach the beauty and healing he had found in his natural temple where he worshiped. He spoke with the fire of the old Covenanters. This religious fervor and spiritual intensity in Muir’s response to nature contributed much to the power of his pleading for the cause of conservation. He never based his arguments on economic considerations alone. He always appealed to men on a high moral plane. I know of no other writer, with the exception of Henry Thoreau, who had so pure and lofty vision of man’s ultimate relationship to nature.”

The summer solstice just may be a perfect time to pause, look up at the stars (or the Strawberry Moon) and be grateful for our physical, mental and spiritual seasons.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

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Darwin Had Absolutely No Doubt About Theism And The Evolution Of Humans

Posted on April 18, 2016 5 Comments

In his own words, “The Autobiography of Charles Darwin:”

“When thus reflecting [‘on the universe, including man’] I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man’ and I deserve to be called a Theist.”

Shame on Richard Dawkins, and other science atheists who deny, obfuscate, pervert or “cherry pick” Darwin’s words. They have sabotaged Darwin’s message to make it conform their soulless world, and what a cold, heartless world it must be. If one of Dawkins’ minions decides to initiate a nuclear war, he could shrug it of as a “random” result of Darwinian “survival of the fittest.” It is staggering to know that an overwhelming number of high school, college/university biology teachers agree with Dawkins.

Secular scientists are quick to point out that human beings and chimpanzees share 97% of the same DNA. While the fossil evidence suggests that humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor over 5 million years ago, the obvious fact remains that chimps are chimps and humans evolved into the most extraordinary animals on the planet. Evidently that 3% increase led to the world’s greatest artists, poets, sages, musicians and, ironically, even scientists like Dawkins.

Much of Darwin’s theory can be proven in the laboratory and in the field. For 1000s of years, people have used “selective breeding” and “mass selection” as a means to develop more productive and useful plants and animals. However, this does not mean that his theory is complete and flawless. After a discussion with Alfred Wallace, he acknowledged that he failed to explain human “gifts” such as mathematical, musical and artistic genius. These qualities are almost totally absent in chimpanzees.

All of the genetic changes Darwin observed were minor and only rendered the offspring a small advantage of survival. Loren Eiseley quipped; the human brain grew “like a mushroom in the night.” This has equipped man with an indeterminate period of time of mental growth. There is no known biological cause for the rapid expansion of the two human cerebral hemispheres.

Lamarck’s theory of use and disuse is of no value.

The Leakey family, Louis, Mary and Richard verified the increased cranial capacity of modern man, but they did not demonstrate the compelling factor.

Stephen Jay Gould was a big fan of “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny,” however he failed to show why or how the human embryo (in evolutionary time) suddenly gained the ability to generate a triple-sized brain.

Gould was also a fan of “punctuated equilibrium” which may explain the “fits and spurts of evolution,” but he could not explain the evolution of the human brain.

Pathetically, human geneticist, Richard Dawkins, recently inferred that the human brain evolved out of “nothing.”

The latest wrinkle in the evolution battle is the emerging consideration of “Intelligent Design.” Although the theory suggests that evolution is not a random, chance-born process, it does not describe a “designated designer.” Therefore, “Intelligent Design” does not explain the emergence of the human brain.

The fact of the matter is, by virtue of the laws of chance and probability, the human brain should never have evolved and so it is not surprising that its origin remains a mystery. Considering the universe, with its boggling time/space dimensions, life on Earth is supremely enigmatic. The Earth has been evolving for 4.5 billion years and yielded millions of plant and animal species before man arrived. Darwinian evolution does not need or explain “man.” If all these living forms survived by “instinct,” what need is there for consciousness, values, or free will? If “modern man” evolved 5 million years ago, we have lived on Earth 0.01% of its history and yet arrogant practitioners of Scientism claim that Mystery is irrelevant and that they have all the necessary answers.

Meanwhile, there is a moral and ethical disease that is pandemic in our society and had afflicted scientists as well. It is called “situational ethics” and scientists use it frequently. Lacking any evidence for the origin of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of the first cell or the tripling of the human brain, secular scientists either ignore or obfuscate the issues or make up their own ethics and pander them as truth.

Photo credit: Toscano: Darwin’s Ape. Available Amazon.com

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

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Touching the Face of God—Reflexive Spirituality

Posted on October 27, 2015 Leave a Comment

Screen shot 2015-10-26 at 6.55.14 PM — Photo: Fotolia/Dudarev Mikhail

“Up, up, the long delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept height with easy grace wherenever lark or even eagle flew. And while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod the high, untrespassed sanctity of space … put out my hand and touched the face of God.” - Jon Gillispie Magee Jr.

[Royal Canadian Air Force pilot who died in a mid-air collision over Lincolnshire, England in 1941.]

“The greatest sense in our body is our sense of touch. It is probably the chief sense in the process of sleeping and waking; it gives us our knowledge of depth or thickness and form; we feel, we love and hate, are touchy and are touched, through the touch corpuscles of our skin. J. Lionel Taylor, The Stages of Human Life.

http://www.utne.com/mind-and-body/reflexive-spirituality-in-modern-society-ze0z1404zcov.aspx

Paraphrasing John Muir, there is enough beauty, wonder and mystery (reflexive spirituality) in this photo to fill cartloads of books. These lovers are facing east to greet the rising sun. The subtle touch of his hand on her arm just might represent the profound triumph over the gap that Michelangelo painted between the fingertips of Adam and God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The mystery of the gift of “touch” may indeed symbolize God’s contact with humanity. This concept is beautifully outlined in Brother Lawrence’s classic book, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Students of reflexive spirituality attempt to integrate knowledge and wisdom from scientists, theologians, naturalists, poets, prophets and sages. I recently discovered the attached web-link and shared the concept with Christie on our morning walk. Her interpretation was instant and to the point. “You mean like “no atheists in fox holes?” We both laughed.

“Well not exactly,” I said. “It’s more like trying to capture lightning in a bottle or defining the indefinable.” RS appears to be a creative option for seekers who have grown weary of material worship or who have not experienced a near-death epiphany.

It is not a new concept, nor one without potential peril.

700 years ago, Meister Eckhart, arguably the greatest Christian mystic/philosopher/theologian suggested:

This “God in creatures” is not pantheism, but is an expression of what in human terms is active contemplation, or the realization of the divine in all things as an “extension” of deep contemplation. Although Eckhart’s teachings are currently widely respected, the Catholic Church condemned him as a heretic. In a double irony, he allowed for scientific discoveries, but predicted that man’s “big questions” will not be answered by science.

Loren Eiseley clearly lived the Reflexive Spirituality life-style before the term was coined. He received the prestigious Pierre Lecomte du Noüy award, which is given to writers who describe the unifying themes of science and religion. However, he was rejected by many scientists for being “too religious” and by religious people for being too scientific.

Alfred Lord Wallace understood the concept when he argued that the evolution of humans could not be explained without a spiritual component. However, he was rejected as a spiritual kook, by Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s Bulldog) who used Darwin’s Theory to justify his “agnosticism” and suggest that WASPs were the most highly evolved race of humans.

However, his eminence, Charles Darwin, suggested that none of his discoveries necessarily contradicted the beliefs of a suitably enlightened religion.

In the 1970’s, Richard Bach wrote a delightful allegory involving reflexive spirituality. Instead of learning how to love more perfectly, Jonathan Livingston attempted to do what no seagull had ever done, perfect flying.

“Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, other times, "is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.”

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a wildly popular book that was both a spiritual primer and elixir for a society with a waning hunger for spiritual awareness. That decline has been accelerated with the increase of electronic devices.

While people generally agree that spiritual curiosity and awareness are vitally important to human health and wellbeing, it is more than likely that US students will attend Kindergarten through Grad-school without being introduced to the concept. Reflexive spirituality does not require believing in a Supreme Being and according to Abraham Maslow, classes or lessons in public schools need not violate the constitutional laws separating Church and State. The goals are universal and encourage people to celebrate the mystery, wonder and miracles of Mother Nature. With average weekly church attendance in the US declining to about 20%, reflexive spirituality may offer seekers a modern alternative pathway of discovering physical, mental and spiritual harmony.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

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Simon and Garfunkel—Robin Williams Contribute to Biodesign

Posted on August 12, 2015 Leave a Comment

“You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in the universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars.” - Robin Williams

When our local PBS station announced it was planning a “pledge night” featuring the1981 New York Central Park concert by Simon and Garfunkel, I dismissed it as “been there done that.” In fact, we watched the concert many years ago, made a pledge and received a “videocassette” ;o) of the concert. However, I accidentally surfed by the channel on pledge night and something very strange and wonderful happened. Christie and I were immediately transfixed. Perhaps it was because of our age, but the melodies and lyrics seemed as fresh and poignant as they did 50 years ago. We were in college, in love and their songs and perfect harmony were transcending. This was long before I became aware that music is a spiritual gift, but now I have no doubt that Paul and Art were reconnecting 500,000 fans with their spiritual roots. The results were truly extraordinary. We sat mesmerized as waves of nostalgia washed over us as we soaked up the wisdom, passion and poetry of the brilliantly gifted pair.

They conjured up the great evolutionary debate between Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Because there is no known genetic cause, Darwin had no clue as to why or how music evolved in humans. Wallace concluded that musical talent, mathematic and artistic genius were spiritual gifts from God. Paul Simon would agree.

Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson

After that thought passed, a magical synchronicity occurred. They launched into a sprightly rendition of “Mrs. Robinson!” Immediately, I was struck by wonder, irony and humor. Here were two Jewish young men, singing a ballad about a 45-ish-year-old, sexually liberal woman having an adulterous affair with a young man less than half her age. The musical intensity rose as they joyfully leaped into the chorus:

And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know wo wo wo
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey

If the movie “The Graduate,” (1967) represented behavior that many regarded as provocative, Simon’s lyrics invoking Jesus’ love and the importance of praying were conversely shocking.

Simon wrote nearly all of the songs the duo sang and all of these thoughts prompted me to refer to Wikipedia to gain a better understanding of his talents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon

In an in-depth interview reprinted in American Songwriter, Simon discusses the craft of songwriting with music journalist Tom Moon. In the interview, Simon explains the basic themes in his songwriting: love, family, social commentary, etc., as well as the overarching messages of religion, spirituality, and God in his lyrics. Simon goes on in the interview to explain the process of how he goes about writing songs, “The music always precedes the words. The words often come from the sound of the music and eventually evolve into coherent thoughts. Or incoherent thoughts. Rhythm plays a crucial part in the lyric-making as well. It’s like a puzzle to find the right words to express what the music is saying.”

His description was a perfect metaphor for the Biodesign Class. It was truly a puzzle and for 24 years, we tried to find the right words to express what Nature was saying.

I have been a fan of Simon and Garfunkel for over 50 years. Biodesigners used several of their songs in the beautiful slide-shows they created. These include: Scarborough Fair, Homeward Bound, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sound Of Silence, 59th Bridge Song and El Condor Pasa. We did not use Mrs. Robinson. LOL

It seems clear to me that Paul Simon is a musical genius. He also encourages me to celebrate the obvious, that some musicians are able to create bridges, stairways, pathways, ladders, channels and mandorlas that connect heaven and Earth. Some of their songs have lasted over 50 years and there is no reason to believe that they will ever be forgotten.

Note:
It was fun to discover that Paul Simon was born one day before me in 1941.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

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“Religion” and Biodesign

Posted on September 22, 2014 Leave a Comment

Excerpt: BOFAW. “I suggested that believing in God was like catching poison oak; some people do and some don’t and no amount of word-making will likely change that.”

Muir was considered an “uneducated tramp,” by some and an “ignoramus” by Calif. State geologist Josiah Whitney. His vision of saving vast wilderness areas as “parklands” for future visitors was often described as lunacy.

Thoreau was often considered a lazy misfit/ recluse who only survived because of Mrs. Emerson’s cooking.

Emerson’s religious views were often considered radical at the time. He believed that all things are connected to God and, therefore, all things are divine. However, even though he regarded Jesus as a “great man,” he did not regard him as the son of God. Although his lectures on the “transcendent power of nature” were popular, he had large groups of critics who labeled him as an atheist.

Loren Eiseley was harshly castigated by scientists who thought he was too religious and equally castigated by “believers” who thought he was too scientific.

In the beginning of the Biodesign experience, I did not realize that, by using these authors, I would be subject to many of the same criticisms that they were. In the introduction to Biodesign Out For A Walk, Linda Williamson described an aura of mystery surrounding room 103 at St. Helena High School. Although I was aware of it at times, I was also aware of storm clouds that were never far away. Just like my mentor’s critics, I had critics (even enemies) who were convinced that the class was really a philosophy or religion class, offered as Advanced Biology.

Because of the scope and depth of Biodesign, it is nearly impossible to select a signature piece of writing that encapsulates the essence of The Class. However, Michaels’ poem comes as close as possible.

“May you always be inspired …

To stand tall in the sunlight,

to seek out the bright face of Beauty,

To reach for the Dream, the Star,

to see the World through eyes of tenderness,

To love with open-heartedness,

To speak the quiet word of comforting,

to look up the mountain and not be afraid to climb,

To be aware of the needs of others,

to believe in the wonder of life,

the miracle of creation,

the rapture of love,

The beauty of the universe,

The dignity of the human being.”

Michaels

The poem was not only one of the most important goals of the class, it was a beautiful summation of the works of Muir, Thoreau, Emerson and Eiseley. If my critics regard it as“religious” then I humbly stand guilty as charged.

Lowell H. Young, Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

I Want To Be In America

Posted on July 3, 2013 Leave a Comment

I Want To be In America

Excerpt: BOFAW, Chap. 20, Sasha

“There is a principle which is pure, and placed

In the human mind, which in different places

and ages has had different names. It is, however,

pure and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward,

confined to no forms of religion, nor excluded from any,

where the heart stands in perfect sincerity.”

What started out to be a routine trip to the Post Office, to send a package to our friend Maria, turned out to be a revelation. It was a joyful surprise to meet Alexander (’94) on the front steps. Alexander was a foreign exchange student from what has become modern-day Croatia. It was not uncommon for exchange students to “hang back” and cautiously observe the first weeks of their Biodesign experience. Actually, what we were doing, in terms of “opening up” and sharing, was not that common for most US kids, but the exchange kids did not know that. Typically, the girls, were the first to venture into the potentially scary world of “being real” in front of a whole class. They were nearly always the first to volunteer to read their self-expository papers simply titled, “Who Am I?” Many of the students were brave enough to present their best rendition of who they were and hope that the class would not reject them as being weird. The opposite was almost always true. As kids revealed their hopes, dreams and aspirations, they began the process of “falling platonically in love” with the beautiful circle of classmates.

Alexander was the last to lower his guard and present his paper. There were some intense moments like the one when his face blushed with fear and anger as he said, “I have been listening to many of you who talk about lovey-dovey stuff, but you have no idea of what the real world is like outside of St. Helena. The week before I came here, my best friend was shot in the head because the thief wanted the new pair of tennis shoes he was wearing. You have probably wondered why I have not been too verbal about my feelings, maybe you will see now that I am not so sure it is such a good idea. However, many of the ideas about going to Yosemite and Grand Canyon sound “cool” and I am looking forward to that.”

Suddenly, standing in “perfect sincerity” seemed to take on a totally different meaning.

Alexander settled in and had a wonderful Yosemite trip which included making friends with a French female day-hiker who was wearing cut-off Levi shorts that were revealing more of her butt cheeks than was considered “decent.” He informed me that she was “part of Yosemite Nature too.” We became friends and hiked out of Grand Canyon together. I watched him call in a storm over the inner gorge and we stood under the end of a rainbow together. He had a wonderful year and Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Mendocino Coast helped him recover from some of the emotional scars created by his war-torn country.

Amazingly, he was able to return to the US, marry his girl friend and settle in St. Helena.

As we talked, I shared that, because of Biodesign Out For A Walk, I had become good friends with Maria, a woman about his age and from his neck of the woods in central Europe. I mentioned that I was intrigued by her deep sense of spiritual hunger. I reminded him that during the “cold war” period of USSR, the KGB was instructed to seek out and burn all copies of the Holy Bible that they could find. Alexander’s eyes glistened as he said, “My mom raised me as a Catholic, but it was not allowed so I had to wait until I got to America to be baptized.”

In the 70s-80s, on April 15, a San Francisco immigrant, who escaped from Communist Yugoslavia, dressed up in his best suit and tie and gave a little speech on the stairs of the main Post Office building. His message was always the same.
”I am so proud and happy to be able to pay my taxes. It is a wonderful privilege to be living in this great country.”

During the same period, in the nearby town of Angwin, Calif., a man had previously escaped the Communist take-over of Czechoslovakia. He hiked alone, approx. 1200 miles, up through Finland and found safe haven in Sweden. From there, he sailed to America. He was often asked to speak at local schools and civic groups where his message was always the same; “It is impossible for Americans to fully appreciate America. You have to come from outside to feel the awesome sense of freedom.”

Suddenly, standing beneath the Stars and Stripes at the US Post Office, in the sleepy little town of St. Helena, took on a whole new meaning. The 4^th of July would be Thursday and I wondered why so many of us have taken so much for granted.