According to the latest Pew research poll on religious preference, 4% of the American population self-identify as atheists. Does this mean that the other 96% of the people are on some form of spiritual path? Do they walk in solitude, or have they joined the caravan of seekers that is very long and very old? … [Read more…]
“It’s déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra In 1946, anthropologist Loren Eiseley exposed the hypocrisy of scientists who dismissed the Biblical story of creation as mythical and unprovable and then proceeded to replace the poetic metaphor with The Big Bang Theory, which is equally mythical and unprovable. Eiseley, who has been described as one … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
In 1976, naturalist T. H. Watkins published, John Muir’s America. He must have felt that he knew Muir’s soul so well that he composed three imaginary conversations with the venerable old mountain man. The first dialogue began on the veranda of Muir’s home in Martinez, Ca. The two men discussed many ecological topics as they … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
“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 … [Read more…]
“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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]