Venus is shining brightly in the morning sky these days. If you look to the East just before sunrise you can't miss it. Venus has long been refered to as the mourning star, but of course its not really a star. People long mistook the visible planets for stars, but now-a-days we know better.
At some times Venus has also been the Evening Star, it would be visible right after sunset. It always appears close to the Sun from our point of view, and of course it is closer in it's orbit.
Venus as a planet is a very unfriendly place, the conditions at the surface resemble some of the imagined conditions of Hell. You wouldn't want to go there.
Mars has problems of its own, and its not much more friendly to our kind of life. Just getting there is a tremendous problem of course; but even if we could, why would we want to go? Of course the answer is simple, everyone is desperate to know if life was possible anywhere else. Its more or less obvious that if life is possible on Planet Earth, then it must be a possibility elsewhere in the Universe as well. Of course this logic has never been good enough for us, we want definitive proof. Personally I believe that we will find the evidence with a telescope sooner or later, we don't really need to send people looking at Mars.
The existence of life has altered Planet Earth in a way that would be detectable from a great distance. If we can observe similar planets around distant Suns, we should be able to determine the existance of our kind of life conclusively. But of course the Earth will not be hospitable forever, eventually life will run out of opportunities here. It could be a great long while before our world becomes uninhabitable, on the order of billions of years. But our world today is at considerable risk in a way that we are powerless to do anything about. It could easily be far less than a billion years before something changes here, and our home becomes unfriendly. Of course it's well within the realm of possibilities today that we ourselves will damage the viability of the Planet. In truth we don't really have the power to extinguish life completely, but we can make it much harder for humanity to survive here. The species may become extinct long before natural events render the world inhospitable. The very life of our species is at risk here, and its proven a very difficult problem to manage all those risks away.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Final Battle
The people will never fight for peace on Earth and make the neccessary sacrifices unless they are faced with an Ultimatum.
Sadly I can't help believeing that this is the truth of the matter.
Let the battle for Peace be fought in ernest, I pray thee God for an Ultimatum.
Sadly I can't help believeing that this is the truth of the matter.
Let the battle for Peace be fought in ernest, I pray thee God for an Ultimatum.
Justification
The children of Humanity have always been able to justify murder; and who can say that the deed is NOT appropriate in every case? If we could be made aware of all the conditions then we may venture to judge the victim either deserving or undeserving. And so long as we are willing to make exceptions we should throw out all concept of Human Dignity.
The best arguement ever made is that it was done in self-defense. But in most cases the only arguement avaialble is that it was done for the good of the community. It's fairly easy to reason that if something is good for an individual person, then it must also be good for the community.
Even Moses himself failed misserably at this one commandment, which just goes to show how hard perfection is for us. Doing the right thing often works out to be an inconvienience.
Evidently we may have good reason, and still do the wrong thing, and something that harms the community.
But its still worthwhile to make an effort, in most respects having made the effort is far more important than actual success.
Each of us does exercise some power over the world, despite the fact that many of us have experienced feelings of powerlessness. And at the times we feel most powerless, we often feel angry, but in some cases the people have resigned themselves to an unhappy fate and simply prayed for Justice. Personally I feel that Justice has been built into the act of creation, and we may not need to ask for it. We only need to be patient because Justice is not always swift. If we intend to live forever, and we believe in the possibility of an afterlife and/or ressurection; it would appear that we can easily afford patience.
I have always had great faith in the idea that people will learn from their personal experiences. We gain matureity with time, we can grow and become more wise, and our behaviour should only become more CIVIL. Unfortunately we just can't wait for everyone to grow up, the behaviour is a problem now. The quality of our educations may be in doubt, and we can easily lay the blame upon our peers and heros, if we have somehow failed to understand something important. It is owing to some lack of knowledge, that the people have missbehaved and so Jesus begs our Heavely Father and Judge for forgiveness.
In my humble opinion a principle of forgiveness only negates punishment, Judgement is unavoidable. Is it possible that the world can have a Day of Judgement without punishment? Unless you may be counted among the meekest of all people, you will no doubt agree that some of the people deserve to be punished. If we can never understand how we have errored, we can never get the knowledge we did lack. And punishment has always served as a form of education. The promise of punshiment has never worked as a deterent.
The vast amount of knowledge available in our modern world is truely remarkable. Most of the children of humanity receive some form of education. Some of us get better than others, but each of us has the freedom to exercise our own judgement and make our own choices. We choose to believe one thing and dissbelieve something else. It far easier to believe in the popular opinions, its work to have good opinions of our own. It may take quite a bit of effort and attention be be well informed. We easily forego some opportunities in life, deciding which things are important to us.
Clearly the amount of attention that we can give is limited in a way that we can not overcome. Many of life's problems may prove too difficult for us to solve. And some of the problems have been with us since the first human being began to walk.
We do have some power over the world, but most of us have very little influence with other people. I would easily count myself among the least influential, I have never managed to win much popularity from the world. I rarely ever have the opportunity to have a really good argument with one of my peers. And I do count all the people, without reservation, to be peers. It often seems fruitless to argue with a person once they've made up their minds to do something. And most of us who are older and more mature have become very comfortable in our own opinions. And if we have been successful in life why shouldn't we feel comfortable?
It far easier to simply ignore the people who dissagree with us, so long as our place in the world is reasonably secure. We didn't make the world, we found it in a sorry condition, perhaps we have managed to make it a little bit better. So many of us have worked long and hard to earn a comfortable retirement here. We made the best of what we were given and our Creator intends that we should get a little enjoyment out of life.
But eventually someone comes along and upturns all the applecarts. Jesus himself was something of a rebel. Because we are powerful as individuals, and time after time a simple human being has proven the talent to gather supporters. One man has often had the power to make armies march, and all that it really takes is a good argument. Unfortunately this has not always been done for the good of all people. In most cases our world leaders have been very selective about who should be served first. We don't seem to mind so much if our best ideas work out to be a dissadvantage to some of the people. Nobody fights tyrany if it serves them.
And the rest of our world is simply powerless to fight the threat of overwhelming force that some Nations can bring to bear. They must be forced to bow to our conditions, and a very few people will decide what is best for all of us.
Now its well beyond my understanding how FAITH alone can make us any more powerful than we already are. It seems to me that FAITH has the power to make a person more Stoic. We must always ask for the things we want, and the answer may be no. But if we ask for the right things the answer may be YES! Most authority on planet Earth comes from popular support, the people who are most successful at gaining supporters end up with better authority. Having better and well informed opinions goes far in convinceing other people. But the highest authority will always be the authority of Heaven and our Creator. And here is a great secret, the great game of life is all about gaining Heaven's support. One person will eventually win the game, and win it decisively. I may fail to win but not for the lack of trying.
It seems likely that Jesus himself solved the mystery of FAITH, and that he had all the power to govern the world as a King, but chose not to. But he did leave us with this riddle, "What should a man gain, if by winning the world, he would lose his own soul in the same process?" I think that riddle deserves an answer, and we will never know for sure until someone does it. To be honest I would like to overcome the world, and I may have a way of solving the world's problems. But Heaven alone can give validation to a man's good judgement, who will win the iron rod?
Someone must WIN!
The best arguement ever made is that it was done in self-defense. But in most cases the only arguement avaialble is that it was done for the good of the community. It's fairly easy to reason that if something is good for an individual person, then it must also be good for the community.
Even Moses himself failed misserably at this one commandment, which just goes to show how hard perfection is for us. Doing the right thing often works out to be an inconvienience.
Evidently we may have good reason, and still do the wrong thing, and something that harms the community.
But its still worthwhile to make an effort, in most respects having made the effort is far more important than actual success.
Each of us does exercise some power over the world, despite the fact that many of us have experienced feelings of powerlessness. And at the times we feel most powerless, we often feel angry, but in some cases the people have resigned themselves to an unhappy fate and simply prayed for Justice. Personally I feel that Justice has been built into the act of creation, and we may not need to ask for it. We only need to be patient because Justice is not always swift. If we intend to live forever, and we believe in the possibility of an afterlife and/or ressurection; it would appear that we can easily afford patience.
I have always had great faith in the idea that people will learn from their personal experiences. We gain matureity with time, we can grow and become more wise, and our behaviour should only become more CIVIL. Unfortunately we just can't wait for everyone to grow up, the behaviour is a problem now. The quality of our educations may be in doubt, and we can easily lay the blame upon our peers and heros, if we have somehow failed to understand something important. It is owing to some lack of knowledge, that the people have missbehaved and so Jesus begs our Heavely Father and Judge for forgiveness.
In my humble opinion a principle of forgiveness only negates punishment, Judgement is unavoidable. Is it possible that the world can have a Day of Judgement without punishment? Unless you may be counted among the meekest of all people, you will no doubt agree that some of the people deserve to be punished. If we can never understand how we have errored, we can never get the knowledge we did lack. And punishment has always served as a form of education. The promise of punshiment has never worked as a deterent.
The vast amount of knowledge available in our modern world is truely remarkable. Most of the children of humanity receive some form of education. Some of us get better than others, but each of us has the freedom to exercise our own judgement and make our own choices. We choose to believe one thing and dissbelieve something else. It far easier to believe in the popular opinions, its work to have good opinions of our own. It may take quite a bit of effort and attention be be well informed. We easily forego some opportunities in life, deciding which things are important to us.
Clearly the amount of attention that we can give is limited in a way that we can not overcome. Many of life's problems may prove too difficult for us to solve. And some of the problems have been with us since the first human being began to walk.
We do have some power over the world, but most of us have very little influence with other people. I would easily count myself among the least influential, I have never managed to win much popularity from the world. I rarely ever have the opportunity to have a really good argument with one of my peers. And I do count all the people, without reservation, to be peers. It often seems fruitless to argue with a person once they've made up their minds to do something. And most of us who are older and more mature have become very comfortable in our own opinions. And if we have been successful in life why shouldn't we feel comfortable?
It far easier to simply ignore the people who dissagree with us, so long as our place in the world is reasonably secure. We didn't make the world, we found it in a sorry condition, perhaps we have managed to make it a little bit better. So many of us have worked long and hard to earn a comfortable retirement here. We made the best of what we were given and our Creator intends that we should get a little enjoyment out of life.
But eventually someone comes along and upturns all the applecarts. Jesus himself was something of a rebel. Because we are powerful as individuals, and time after time a simple human being has proven the talent to gather supporters. One man has often had the power to make armies march, and all that it really takes is a good argument. Unfortunately this has not always been done for the good of all people. In most cases our world leaders have been very selective about who should be served first. We don't seem to mind so much if our best ideas work out to be a dissadvantage to some of the people. Nobody fights tyrany if it serves them.
And the rest of our world is simply powerless to fight the threat of overwhelming force that some Nations can bring to bear. They must be forced to bow to our conditions, and a very few people will decide what is best for all of us.
Now its well beyond my understanding how FAITH alone can make us any more powerful than we already are. It seems to me that FAITH has the power to make a person more Stoic. We must always ask for the things we want, and the answer may be no. But if we ask for the right things the answer may be YES! Most authority on planet Earth comes from popular support, the people who are most successful at gaining supporters end up with better authority. Having better and well informed opinions goes far in convinceing other people. But the highest authority will always be the authority of Heaven and our Creator. And here is a great secret, the great game of life is all about gaining Heaven's support. One person will eventually win the game, and win it decisively. I may fail to win but not for the lack of trying.
It seems likely that Jesus himself solved the mystery of FAITH, and that he had all the power to govern the world as a King, but chose not to. But he did leave us with this riddle, "What should a man gain, if by winning the world, he would lose his own soul in the same process?" I think that riddle deserves an answer, and we will never know for sure until someone does it. To be honest I would like to overcome the world, and I may have a way of solving the world's problems. But Heaven alone can give validation to a man's good judgement, who will win the iron rod?
Someone must WIN!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Armageddon
Recently I had a conversation with my daughter about the devil, and she informed me that she wants to be a servant of God. I think she has been feeling a little disenchanted with the world, and a little bit angry. Holywood has popularized a certain sterotype for our friend the Devil, and I hardly beleive that such a person really exists. But clearly the kingdom of Heaven is populated by a multitude of persons. There is enough evidence around us here on Earth, to believe in the multitude. I suspect that the multitude does have a definate number to it, although it may be an ever increasing number, it is not infinite. But that number may not be defined by Life on Earth, although clearly every living thing has been endowed with a measure of consiousness. And that number may not even be defined by Life in General, but I do believe that the number is well defined by the whole of manifestation. I do not believe there has ever been such a thing in this Universe as "Unmanifest Spirits". Every person that may exist as a person must depend upon manifestation completely. And clearly there is much more to manifestation than Human Life, there may very well be higher powers between us and God.
So I must acknowledge the possibility that there really is a person in Heaven who wanted to see our world divided and actively sowed the seeds of discord. There may very well be a story teller God and great deciever. But in my humble opinion we don't really need a great deciever in order to explain Human nature. Our world is NOT being controlled by Evil spirits, it is being controlled by People with the freedom to exercise their own judgement and the power to make decisions and act.
If the one true and most high God sees that the children of the Earth need to be governed, he's certainly never offered to do the job. God has blessed each of us with some talent for judgement; in the same way that flight comes naturally to most birds, judgement is a part of Human nature. Quite often we find it desireble to get some guidance from someone more knowledgeable than ourselves. Normally God is viewed as the MOST knowledgeable person, by those people who believe in a God. But its neigh on impossible to get God as an advisor. To be sure there are plenty of people in the world who want to share thier own opinions with us, and to offer us some instruction. But is a very rare thing for one of us to get instructions from a higher-power. Clearly its a good thing for us to have desires, but no-one has ever been blessed with perfect judgement. We are pretty much left to ourselves to develope that talent and apply it. And whether or not we are skilled or wise, we must apply judgement to our day to day lives. The conditions of life being what they are, we may never have perfect knowledge. We do get some knowledge from our own personal experiences in life however, but most things we simply believe in. We have more opinions than facts about the nature of reality, but we do need some way to feel content with our own limitations even if we never stop wanting more. And for this we have each been blessed with the seed of faith. To the best of my understanding faith has no power to turn opinions into facts, but it does have the power to make us more stoic. Faith has the power to remove doubts and to make us more comfortable with opinions. It would be a terrible thing to endure this lack of knowledge without faith.
I for one know that we do not just live here on Planet Earth, we live in a remarkable Universe. And this Universe is a very strange and wonderful thing, and the Earth is still a beautiful world despite human habitation. I can't help feeling a little romantic about the world and my place in it, nor can I overlook the bigger picture of reality. There is a point of view that take Eons into consideration, and we should consider several millenia of Human History. And now we stand here in this moment in time and with all that it contains and observe a complete and total continuity with every historical event. And because this continuity will never fail to be true, now that we have become a part of the story of creation, we will always and forever more be a part of that story. The process of creation is ongoing, even though it may have an absolute begining, it never comes to a halt and it never comes to an end. The Universe itself is a very durable thing, and I can't help believeing that now that we've been made, we too are as durable. I do believe that this Universe holds the promise of immortality for us, And the possibility of a ressurection. I have no special knowledge about the future, it is entirely unsubstantiated opinion. It may or may not be true, and no matter how much I desire it to be one way or the other, clearly i have no power to choose. Reality can not be made subject to my dreams of a better world.
There may never be a great battle to liberate the world from the forces of Evil.
So I must acknowledge the possibility that there really is a person in Heaven who wanted to see our world divided and actively sowed the seeds of discord. There may very well be a story teller God and great deciever. But in my humble opinion we don't really need a great deciever in order to explain Human nature. Our world is NOT being controlled by Evil spirits, it is being controlled by People with the freedom to exercise their own judgement and the power to make decisions and act.
If the one true and most high God sees that the children of the Earth need to be governed, he's certainly never offered to do the job. God has blessed each of us with some talent for judgement; in the same way that flight comes naturally to most birds, judgement is a part of Human nature. Quite often we find it desireble to get some guidance from someone more knowledgeable than ourselves. Normally God is viewed as the MOST knowledgeable person, by those people who believe in a God. But its neigh on impossible to get God as an advisor. To be sure there are plenty of people in the world who want to share thier own opinions with us, and to offer us some instruction. But is a very rare thing for one of us to get instructions from a higher-power. Clearly its a good thing for us to have desires, but no-one has ever been blessed with perfect judgement. We are pretty much left to ourselves to develope that talent and apply it. And whether or not we are skilled or wise, we must apply judgement to our day to day lives. The conditions of life being what they are, we may never have perfect knowledge. We do get some knowledge from our own personal experiences in life however, but most things we simply believe in. We have more opinions than facts about the nature of reality, but we do need some way to feel content with our own limitations even if we never stop wanting more. And for this we have each been blessed with the seed of faith. To the best of my understanding faith has no power to turn opinions into facts, but it does have the power to make us more stoic. Faith has the power to remove doubts and to make us more comfortable with opinions. It would be a terrible thing to endure this lack of knowledge without faith.
I for one know that we do not just live here on Planet Earth, we live in a remarkable Universe. And this Universe is a very strange and wonderful thing, and the Earth is still a beautiful world despite human habitation. I can't help feeling a little romantic about the world and my place in it, nor can I overlook the bigger picture of reality. There is a point of view that take Eons into consideration, and we should consider several millenia of Human History. And now we stand here in this moment in time and with all that it contains and observe a complete and total continuity with every historical event. And because this continuity will never fail to be true, now that we have become a part of the story of creation, we will always and forever more be a part of that story. The process of creation is ongoing, even though it may have an absolute begining, it never comes to a halt and it never comes to an end. The Universe itself is a very durable thing, and I can't help believeing that now that we've been made, we too are as durable. I do believe that this Universe holds the promise of immortality for us, And the possibility of a ressurection. I have no special knowledge about the future, it is entirely unsubstantiated opinion. It may or may not be true, and no matter how much I desire it to be one way or the other, clearly i have no power to choose. Reality can not be made subject to my dreams of a better world.
There may never be a great battle to liberate the world from the forces of Evil.
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