It seems to me many people are caught up in the trappings of things - expensive cars, clothes, fine food and drink, vacations they can ill afford; stuff like that. So be it. I wouldn't trade one sunset on my front porch for all of it. At least when I go to bed at night it is with a clear conscience. I don't count my treasures in sparkly trinkets or Italian suits. I count them in peace of mind and the ability to learn and study. Knowledge is my wealth and I try to horde as much of it as I can.
I suppose a lot of people would call me a bit strange, even eccentric to a degree, because of my outlook on things. It fascinates and amuses me to no end when people in their pompous demeaner claim to have "discovered" this or that. Truth is, they didn't discover anything, they merely stumbled onto the essence of what was always there. The greatest chemist and physicist in the universe invented it all, and all we meager humans can hope to do is uncover the nature of it. But He discovered it at the beginning of time. Hell, He invented it out of nothing! And then people parade about with their heads reared back and their frail little chests stuck out like they have really done something when they learn of the essence of things. It is just a hoot to me.
Take this global warming thingie. What a crock! The truth is, that when Mt. St. Helen's erupted in Washington State several years back, more pollution and greenhouse gasses were released in that one event than man has done cumulatively since the beginning of time. We really have a way of building up our self importance in things! I am not saying we should run amuck of it all, but there is not much we can do that is going to have a long term "make or break" effect on it.
But we, as humans, feel the need to be in 'control' of everything. It is an illusion we trick ourselves with. In fact, we are in control of little or nothing really, just our responses to situations as they arise and that is about it. Mother Nature (God, if you will) is ultimately in charge of it all and His Will, will be done. It is the only constant in the universe. Where we as humans run afoul of it, is that we try to change His will to suit our desires (not needs) and that just ain't gonna happen. The true test is to change ourselves to meet His will, not the other way around.
Universal laws are also universal truths and they cannot be changed. People flail around and falter trying to break these laws, but the truth of the matter is that they cannot and will not be broken. What inevitably happens is that we (humans) only succeed in breaking ourselves against the laws, not the other way around.
Everything is relative to the paradigm from which we view our surroundings. More times than not, our positions won't allow us to see the whole picture. We need to shift our frame of reference to get a handle on it. Take for instance a story told by Frank Koch in "Prodeedings", the magazine for the Naval Institute:
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Two battleships assigned to a training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visability was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on activities.
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, "Light. Bearing on the starboard bow."
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out.
The lookout replied, "Steady captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called for his signalman, "Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change your course 20 degrees."
Back came a signal, "Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees."
The captain said, "Send: I am a captain, change course 20 degrees!"
"I'm a seaman second class," came the reply. "You had better change course 20 degrees."
By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: I'm a battleship. Change course 20 degrees!"
Back came the flashing light, "I am a lighthouse."
We changed course!
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Everything is relative to the position we view it from. More times than not, we need to make a shift in our paradigm to get a more accurate view of things. When we do this, it allows us to see the truth of the lighthouse and not our minds illusion of another ship.
So, I seek knowledge and wisdom as my treasures. They are the only things of this world that you will carry with you to the next.
1 comment:
The first time I heard that story, you told it to me. I still like it and I appreciate the message that it holds.
When we try to change our positions so that we can get a fresh view of our surroundings, we are better able to get a tighter grasp on our reality and hopefully make the appropriate changes that required to help mend our situations. It goes back to what I often say ... "If it aint workin' for ya, then move. Move left, right, up or down. Just move any where but the spot you are turning your wheels at."
It makes perfect sense to me.
There is something different about this post from the others, and I like what I see. Good post.
ps I'm glad it didn't hurt lol
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