Ever since I can remember, occasionally I have this weird imaginatitive concept of nothingness – the equivalent of nothing at all. This was not the negation of the idea of being as such but that which is apart from it.
Those thoughts remind me of our ancestral past journey when we first began to to think about ourselves separate to self. Modern man evolved this potential possibly up to 100,000 years ago although scholars hotly debate varying time lines. It is highly plausible during this crossover period as our cognitive abilities expanded physically (with the expansion of the frontal brain lobes) many of our beliefs began to took take shape. In Elkhonon Goldberg's ‘ The Executive Brain’ he states "A rich sensory memory of a deceased tribesperson would be interpreted as the tribesman's "ghost" or as evidence of the tribesman "life" after death". According to the scenario, some of the more literal religions and magical beliefs, which persisted for millennia are vestiges of early human’s inability to distinguish between one’s own memories of other people (internal representations, parts of "self") and those actual people themselves ("nonselves".Others). According to Jaynes, this self-oneself confusion was not confined to prehistoric times. It extended well into the early history populated by individuals we assume to be neurobiological "modern'.
Looking backwards in time it is difficult to imagine those first awakenings in our journey of discovery since they are hidden in oral history, dance, chants and the evocative dreamland scenes on rock walls painted up to 60,000 years ago. Even today screenings include a warning about interviews with people who have since deceased in deference to indigenous group’s beliefs. An insatiable curiosity combined with unquenchable thirst for knowledge leads to our complex ever changing belief systems which adapt subtly along with hotly contested changes as new discoveries contradict many of the rigidly held previous religious ‘beliefs’. Many today prefer the idea of concepts rather than to be wedded to a ‘belief system’.
Buddhism has been rediscovered in the west and gains popularity as an alternative to secular materialism in philosophy or fundamentalism in religion. The idea of nothingness as sacred might seem unattractive to western rationalism unaccustomed to discussing such subjects as emptiness, karma, release from suffering through Nirvana – by ceasing to will, illusions of the mind and the idea of death simply taking on a different form of rebirth. Buddhist popularity may also be due to the fact it seems to be less authoritarian and, while its rationality may be debated it does suggest a rational pathway.
However, when one examines the mystical bent of all religions and their roots encapsulated into ritual, art and so called canonized scripture it remains a matter of choice dependent in turn on a leap in faith.
In the end people adopt a religion or a belief or a particular religious or even secular philosophy because there is nothing else you can do to make sense of life - philosophically for that person.
From the mystical perspective nothingness or something -whichever is of appeal, always entails something in reality which is ineffable.
The only thing we can say for sure is it is futile and idiotic to attack anyone purely on the basis of what a person or group of people think or happens to believe (as distinct from what someone does) since it is all about something or nothing which in reality is ineffable. Much to do about nothing- but we see continued oppression and persecution of many ( including christian) based upon a fear of what such people might do.
Monday, April 11
Monday, March 7
'Chants d'Auvergne’
This recording ‘Bailero’ from the ‘Chants d'Auvergne’ (‘Songs from the Auvergne"); is one from a collection of folk songs from the Auvergne region of France arranged by Joseph Cantaloupe for the soprano voice and orchestra between 1923-1930. These songs are sung in the local language, Occitan.
Cantaloupe travelled throughout France to collect folk songs, making arrangements for voice and instrumental accompaniment. Without his painstaking work these simple folk songs which were orally passed down from one generation of shepherds to the next would have been lost forever.
Cantaloupe leaves us an enduring legacy of the most exqustively beautiful simple music ever written.
The music blends beautifully with the majestic scenery of this high plateau area in southern France with expanses of green rolling hills stretching out as far as the eye can see and richly carpeted in wildflowers which echos the lyrics of skylarks.
It is worth waiting for theses few pictures in the clip to glimpse the magificient scenery and imagine the dulcet tones of a maiden to a shepherd across the river :
‘Are you having much fun’?
‘None at all, and you’?
Shepherd the meadow is in flower, come over here to tend your flock?
The grass is greener in my field.
Shepherd the river runs between us. I can’t get across!
Then I’ll come across and fetch you
Click here for the clip - this recordng is as fantastic for me as was when I first heard it many years ago sung then by rising star Jessye Norman !!
Cantaloupe travelled throughout France to collect folk songs, making arrangements for voice and instrumental accompaniment. Without his painstaking work these simple folk songs which were orally passed down from one generation of shepherds to the next would have been lost forever.
Cantaloupe leaves us an enduring legacy of the most exqustively beautiful simple music ever written.
The music blends beautifully with the majestic scenery of this high plateau area in southern France with expanses of green rolling hills stretching out as far as the eye can see and richly carpeted in wildflowers which echos the lyrics of skylarks.
It is worth waiting for theses few pictures in the clip to glimpse the magificient scenery and imagine the dulcet tones of a maiden to a shepherd across the river :
‘Are you having much fun’?
‘None at all, and you’?
Shepherd the meadow is in flower, come over here to tend your flock?
The grass is greener in my field.
Shepherd the river runs between us. I can’t get across!
Then I’ll come across and fetch you
Click here for the clip - this recordng is as fantastic for me as was when I first heard it many years ago sung then by rising star Jessye Norman !!
Sunday, February 20
End of an era
Whenever I am near a farm or in the country I experience a calm that comes over me like a gentle breeze. The sounds of country life instantly tells me to slow down and relax. It is hard to put my finger on it but I think it has something to do with the changing seasons; the hum of activity that sets its own pace and laughs at you if you foolishly try to impose your own will. From my childhood memories comes the idea there was a certain patience needed to taste the sweetness of fresh mulberries picked just as the fruit ripens. One felt secure in the daily routine of a baker bringing his freshly baked bread or a milkman filling your milk jug from milk from a farm up the road. There was a certain thrill of picking out only the edible wild mushrooms for our family breakfast.
I remain interested in farming and have watched the growth in ‘Land Care’ as farming properties join together to create interlocking corridors of preserved natural bush covenanted to nature. These large tracts of covenanted land set aside as a ‘trust for nature’ ensures the indigenous species can continue to flourish. These areas cover up to 15% or more of each property and not only preserve the environment in perpetuity but also provide superior farm yields.
Most Farmers who are involved with animals reared for the ultimate purposes of human consumption are at considerable pains to ensure their animal’s environment and relative freedom ensures enjoyment up to the time of any slaughtering. When that time arrives it needs to be carried out in a swift and humane to avoid suffering or stress on the animals concerned. There is no reason to sustain suffering of animals today. Factory farming (which , for the most part is not widespread in Australia) where animals are housed in restricted space and force fed a unnatural high growth diet tell us something very negative about society verging on moral bankruptcy. Fortunately in many countries distributors are starting to label their product as free range and turning the tide for that preference amongst consumers.
It all boils down to the point any prolonged suffering of animals is unacceptable today regardless of past tradition or culture or anything else. Either we take some responsibility for what we eat and how it is produced or we turn a blind eye to it or argue against it on the basis of animal’s existence is not of any consequence when it comes to human existence. Such as argument to my mind is morally indefensible. It also follows that those involved in any form of farming in the wild owe a responsibility not to engage in practices that result in slow agonizing death to animals.
Anyone witnessing the cruelty of commercial whaling would be horrified at the spectacle of the slow and agonising death of a harpooned whale. At least now in the Soutern Ocean ther whales have gained some respite ........'It’s official – the Japanese whaling fleet has called it quits in the Southern Ocean, at least for this season. And if they return next season, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society state they will be ready to resume their efforts to obstruct and disable illegal Japanese whaling operations. ' To read more click here
The federal government has refused to be drawn on the tenor of a meeting between the Japanese foreign minister and Australia's ambassador in Tokyo following a premature end to the whaling season.
Japan announced on Friday it was bringing home its harpoon ships a month early for safety reasons following a series of clashes with anti-whaling activists. ........read more here
I remain interested in farming and have watched the growth in ‘Land Care’ as farming properties join together to create interlocking corridors of preserved natural bush covenanted to nature. These large tracts of covenanted land set aside as a ‘trust for nature’ ensures the indigenous species can continue to flourish. These areas cover up to 15% or more of each property and not only preserve the environment in perpetuity but also provide superior farm yields.
Most Farmers who are involved with animals reared for the ultimate purposes of human consumption are at considerable pains to ensure their animal’s environment and relative freedom ensures enjoyment up to the time of any slaughtering. When that time arrives it needs to be carried out in a swift and humane to avoid suffering or stress on the animals concerned. There is no reason to sustain suffering of animals today. Factory farming (which , for the most part is not widespread in Australia) where animals are housed in restricted space and force fed a unnatural high growth diet tell us something very negative about society verging on moral bankruptcy. Fortunately in many countries distributors are starting to label their product as free range and turning the tide for that preference amongst consumers.
It all boils down to the point any prolonged suffering of animals is unacceptable today regardless of past tradition or culture or anything else. Either we take some responsibility for what we eat and how it is produced or we turn a blind eye to it or argue against it on the basis of animal’s existence is not of any consequence when it comes to human existence. Such as argument to my mind is morally indefensible. It also follows that those involved in any form of farming in the wild owe a responsibility not to engage in practices that result in slow agonizing death to animals.
Anyone witnessing the cruelty of commercial whaling would be horrified at the spectacle of the slow and agonising death of a harpooned whale. At least now in the Soutern Ocean ther whales have gained some respite ........'It’s official – the Japanese whaling fleet has called it quits in the Southern Ocean, at least for this season. And if they return next season, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society state they will be ready to resume their efforts to obstruct and disable illegal Japanese whaling operations. ' To read more click here
The federal government has refused to be drawn on the tenor of a meeting between the Japanese foreign minister and Australia's ambassador in Tokyo following a premature end to the whaling season.
Japan announced on Friday it was bringing home its harpoon ships a month early for safety reasons following a series of clashes with anti-whaling activists. ........read more here
Friday, January 28
A philosopher’s guide to reality.
As our level of awareness increased, natural curiosity prompted us to ask questions about reality and how one can philosophically define our state of being or existence. The first formal paper on metaphysics (which is a term used to describe our state of being) was by the scholar Aristotle (322 BC-384 BC )whose output remains firmly etched into our societal framework and who completed the first known works on logic.
His writings remain fresh and thought- provoking …..The first philosophy Metaphysics) is universal and is exclusively concerned with primary substance. ... And here we will have the science to study that which is just as that which is, both in its essence and in the properties which, just as a thing that is, it has. ....That among entities there must be some cause which moves and combines things. ... There must then be a principle of such a kind that its substance is activity.” (Aristotle, Metaphysics). You can read a summary of his treatise on metaphysics by Stanford University here.
A measure of his contribution to metaphysics was his ideas remained virtually unchallenged for over a thousand years. Today they are the cornerstone for the Christian, Muslim and Jewish religions to define our state of being from a religious philosophical perspective. It is not my perspective however to rigidly assert all the Abrahamic faiths are totally reliant upon the Aristotelian view, rather his broad metaphysics profoundly influenced or was a cornerstone to much of it (with varying degrees) although I acknowledge in some sects they went entirely different ways inclusive of splits in Christianity.
But Aristolean logic was hostage to the Copernican notion of a central earth about which the stars and planets revolved. It was thought then impossible for the earth to move on its axis and orbit the sun as otherwise you must feel the rush of wind in your hair just as you would when riding a horse. Many simply believed humans might fall apart if exposed to speeds exceeding that of a galloping horse. John Gribbon- Science A History -1543-2001.
All of our ground breaking major scientific discoveries are counter intuitive and most discoveries did not follow on logically to seem at first to be against common sense. Science tells us how things are but not logically how things are. However, the fact that a philosophy is underpinned by a false scientific notion does not in its itself discredit the whole of the body of that work. All revelations in science reveal is that a particular model of reality conforms to a verifiable observation from that perspective. New scientific discoveries and insights will prompt quetions about the status quo for debate and become the catalyst for changed thinking. The modern dichotomy existing between science and philosophy is only a very recent affair as previously science was called philosophy. Philosophers want to understand science as a tool to help underwrite philosophy.
It was not until the invention of the telescope and Galileo’s observations that the Aristotelean view was finally refuted in the seventeenth century. Galileo reduced Aristotle’s metaphysics in religion to attribute GOD only to the primary causes (or those not understood) with the balance known as secondary causes comprehensible as mechanical processes.
His refutation of the Aristotelean idea of a fixed central planet earth met with stiff opposition as his note to Kepler testifies:
‘I wish, my dear Kepler that we could have a good laugh together at the extraordinary stupidity of the mob. What do you think of the foremost philosophers of this University? In spite of my oft-repeated efforts and invitations, they have refused, with the obstinacy of a glutted adder, to look at the planets or Moon or my telescope. (Galileo Galilei)
The most dominant philosopher at that time was René Descartes who expanded the idea of a mechanical view of the world to include physics, biology and psychology. His famous phrase ‘I am thinking, therefore I exist’ denotes his idea of a distinct human intellect for all human perceptions unaffected and separate to the senses.
Hence his metaphysics talked about a distinction between the mind and the substance of a material world comprehensible from a mechanical perspective.
His ideas were plausible then, given the feeling of solidness to the world and the predictability of observable outcomes for mechanical systems.
He makes a valid point that the senses provide only obscure information and concludes therefore clear perceptions must only occur in the intellect.However I think you can also say that the senses don’t have to make rational sense to us individually or for us to be aware of a composite of sensory perceptions manifesting as intellect.
His ideas about the mind were referenced in more recent times to support the theory that a computer with self conscious software would be capable of emulating a human mind. This idea may have some tiny vestige of plausibility if you remain convinced about Descartes mind distinction – but I remain somewhat unconvinced even on that score. Descartes ‘concluded that the essences of all things and those calculable mathematical truths’ perceivable from enquiry were immutable and eternal causes established under the hand of GOD.
For a summary of the metaphysics of Descartes (1596- 1650) click here
Reference ; http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-modal/
The next great advancement of science was from Newton (1643-1727) who took a 7-year fellowship with Trinity College in 1667 which was reliant on him swearing an oath ‘I will either set Theology as the object of my studies and take holy orders when the time prescribed by those statutes arrives, or I will resign from the college’
He was the first of the great Scientists to show the laws of science are indeed universal laws that effect everything. For Newton and many of his contemporaries God was the architect of it all. Newton even went on to say God was a "hands on” architect who might interfere from "time to time". John Gribbon- Science A History -1543-2001.
To read more on Newton’s metaphysics click here
Reference : http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-philosophy/.
18th century
At the beginning of the 18th century the famous botanist Linnaeus ( 1707-1778) who was responsible for over 7000 descriptions for species of plants and most European animals rejected the Aristotelean metaphysics which defined plants as substance with properties. Instead he proposed their being was based upon the provision of nutrition and in the propagation of their species.
Thus the interconnectivity of all living things was beginning to take root- if you will excuse my pun!
Immanuel Kant (b. April 22, 1724- 12.4.1804) was a German philosopher who greatly influenced all subsequent philosophy. Kant recognized the problem of the human mind and provided a solution as to how we can escape from the confines of our mind to a reality of an outside world physically beyond it.
Kant’s solution posited that prior known truths are insufficient to describe metaphysics but from prior knowledge (which he called a priori) the mind is capable of joining up with analysis to understand how to proceed. This may seem a rather straightforward matter for us today but it was a major move forward in thinking then to run counter to existing philosophy.
His ideas ensured a much better understanding about how the mind joins past knowledge and links to analysis to posit judgments about our interaction with the outside world.
Kant employed in his thinking what is known as the transcendental argument about the minds ability to be aware of things outside of the minds existence about which it has no prior knowledge by joining with a partial priori to give rise to analysis and subsequent comprehension. E.g. the mind itself is aware of its own experience. Kant then argued (convincingly from my viewpoint) that a philosophical investigation into the nature of the external world must be an inquiry into the features and activity of the mind that knows it.
Kant argued the mind gives objects some of their characteristics in accord with its compliant nature to bring uniformity within its structured conceptual capability.
Kant’s transcendal argument however does not mean philosophically he saw grounds for ideas such as, ‘God is a perfect being.’ as Kant maintained that the mind was a tool to formal structuring that enables the conjoining of concepts into judgments, but that the mind possesses a priori for judgments, not a priori of judgments.
This idea is confirmed in studies undertaken into cognitive neuroscience which conclude the frontal lobes of the brain assemble all of the information (including that which is conveyed from the senses) from other parts to make judgments based upon all of the assembled information to hand. Elkhonen Goldberg – The Executive Brain.
For a summary of Kant’s metaphysics click here
Reference : http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-metaphysics/
19th & 20th Century
It was in the 19th century the pace of change quickened with the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution; discoveries of Carbon Dioxide, water as an element, The Steam Engine, Electricity, Oxygen and Darwin’s theory of natural selection, to offer a scientific explanation of evolution.
But during this time science was also transformed as in 1905 Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity was published. The foundation stone was the constancy of the speed of light and that nothing exceeds the speed of light which was supported by experimental evidence.
He went on to develop the special theory of relativity to include the warping effects of gravity.
Many of the metaphysical ideas described so far are by necessity based upon our everyday experience with intelligence human interaction to define the reality of our state of being.But now Science is telling us the only absolute to relativity is the concept of space time. This idea took firmer root as accepted orthodoxy as the quantum revolution (study of sub atomic particles called protons and electrons) demonstrated beyond any doubt that light could behave as a wave or as a stream of particles. Scientists can only postulate theories about the behaviors of electrons and protons inside or outside of atoms. The bizarre notion of quantum mechanics postulate where two photons were entangled any successful measurement of either will force the other distant photon (however far away- even were it to be on the other side of the universe) into a corresponding same spin cycle as if it is still connected (even though it isn’t) rather than behave in accord with expected probabilities.
From a scientific point of view one thing remains crystal clear; we remain unable to provide a metaphysical model about reality - our state of being and their ontologies. All I think we can say is our minds give us a comprehension of reality (even if it's not reality) verifiable by independent scientific means. All that proves is comprehension is correct according to the observation but not that it is real. Of course it is real to the extent it needs to be real for us to exist but that is all above the quantum level and according to large scale physics which works very well.
One of the prominent philosophers of great influence was Friedrich Nietzsche ( 1844-1900) whose work today is subject to countless interpretations (or should I say misinterpretations) and who is better known for his quote ‘God is Dead’- symbolized the death of a even wider definition of metaphysics than is contemplated in this paper. Another is 'All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.'
As an insightful and enigmatic philosopher whose unusual style (he often wrote in aphorisms) Nietzsche was apt to ferociously attack any philosopher or religious philosophy captive to universal principles which he proffered was to reduce our state of being into one of a slave mentality to descend into nihilism.
The key to Nietzsche's philosophy from my perpective is his will to power and his metaphysical claim this is the essence of being. He posits our being comprises of instinctive interactions – the true, false, real, fictitious or unintelligible. His claim was 'that all sciences are now under the obligation to prepare the ground for the future task of the philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the true hierarchy of values.
In his works entitled 'Beyond good and evil' he gives rise to the idea of ‘free spirits’ to emphasize ones self-knowledge that allows one to go beyond the bounds of morality to be free to unearth or uncover the conscious drivers or our wills.
Nietzsche hope is for philosophers to be free spirits unbounded by the shackles of dogmatism and willing and able to embrace hardships in a constant state of becoming.
Another philospher Albert Schweitzer, although heavily influence by Nietzsche, eventually went down a different track to Nietzsche; ‘Reverence for life means to be in the grasp of the infinite, inexplicable, forward-urging Will in which all Being is grounded.’ 'Reality is the Being which manifests itself in phenomena'
Schweitzer’s world view was influenced by Spinoza, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Native American religions aimed at providing a bridge for Christianity to be revitalized; to return to the ancient mystical links for a naturalistic world view. He posited eschatology entrapped Christianity to a journey of unjustified value judgments to fuel unwarranted pessimism about the intuitive human spirit. His world view was based upon our link to mysticism as a basis for reasoned understanding- not the other way around. Eschatology was central in his thinking as the catalysist s for the pessimistic renunciation of a human society which was bound and captive to the continual overtures to an approaching kingdom of God.
What Schweitzer attempted to do was to remove the metaphysical Jesus of love housed in the God/ man / creed/ dogma entrapments to be supplanted within his reverence for life based upon his life affirmation and unity for life themes. Wherever you see life – that is yourself!”
This is what has attracted me to his philosophy – complete with all the flaws which must beset any philpospher.
But Nietzsche was of great interest subsequently to a philosophical movement called existentialism: the investigation of the meaning and mode of being given endless individual existential possibilities and the relationships with all things. - A being in the world.
Noted physicist Stephen Hawking also brings his own brand of scientific gloss to the table since he thinks our minds are all wedded to a belief dependency what he calls ‘model-dependent realism,’ which allow us to make sense of our assumed reality from our sensory model input. He makes the point however our assumed reality is based upon what we believe to be both true and real to reflect observations -but not reality.
We zestfully explain events on the basis our mind models ably match reality (even if they do not); so that when the models are able to make accurate predictions we become excited to think we have discovered the truth which we have. The truth is that the mind model agrees with those observations- not if it is real or not. Stephen Hawking
Conclusion
What I have tried to do is to illustrate how science and human thinking evolved historically to bear fruit with elegant theories about our state of being.
My aim was to show how successive philosophers and scientists built up a step by step approach to metaphysics only to find in the end we are almost back to when we first started within the context of this paper. I have included references to Stanford University to ensure anyone wanting to check what I am saying or required more expert elaboration could refer to the references.
Additionally I included references to john Gribbin’s ‘Science a History’ to join scientific discoveries to hopefully show how scientific discoveries shaped philosophy. My aim was to show how this change in thinking would have felt then as such discoveries impacted their lives so that today life is barely recognizable to that which preceded us. There is no inference it’s a better or worse world view to what preceded it, but rather this post is an illustration of the journey of formal metaphysical knowledge.
Hence my subjective inclusion of just a handful of the great philosophrs and scientists will hopefully capture sufficiently the essence of some of their ideas to whet your appetite for further enquiry. It seems to me each has made a major contribution to better understanding the nature of being within the constraints of societal or religious prejudices or flawed science.
But as we began to feel secure under the certainty of Newton’s universal laws we discovered at the quantum level those laws no longer applied. It is as if in our quest to be suitably clothed in more and more knowledge we now know the clothing is only temporal and underneath as always we remain naked before GOD.
But just as clothes keep us warm to add color to our character all of the great philosophers and scientists I have subjectively mentioned add meaning to our life just as if we are having a conversation with a trusted friend. At least that is my experience and my hope is it is yours.
Tuesday, January 25
An excerpt from Christmas.
A reflection on Christmas.- from an Aussie Alice friend who thought her poem might make you smile,- ……enjo
There’s been a drought a 152
It’s not from lack of water though
a,b,c
d and e they once flowed
so easily,
so merrily they made their way
To form a poem, a word display
A picture, story, little song
to illustrate the marching throng (of life!)
It's not from lack of ink or paper.
Just time you see
For Christmas came
Streaming down the freeway
in the latest sporty car
All shiny and bling,
even Jesus had a gold plated crib
A Ralph Lauren Bib
And Mary's got new American Ugg boots.
She was dizzy with the flashing lights
The wilting tree
The Angels plight,
At having to sit on the top branch.
St Nick didn't get a letter but an A4 pad,
How does he do it they wonder?
He doesn't, he passed the buck to me
the cad!
Zooming here, there, every shopping where
The credit cards been working out all year
for this big spender
I wish the credit card police would suspend her,
She’s found online shopping too,
It’s so easy browsing on the sofa
with a nip of Christmas Brandy to help
the net seduce her....
THATS IT, enough she cries
The Christmas mosquito has sucked us dry
We're off to camp somewhere remote
Don't worry kids
Santa’s got the note.
Camping, what was she thinking
(not been for a year or three)
She'd forgotten you have to pack
the loo rolls, beds, pillows, food,
Clothes and boots, trikes and bikes,
Balls and bats, torches, stoves, tables
Chairs, Fishing rods, Canoes and ores
And then her chirpy husband says,
‘Are you packing the kitchen sink as well?'
She feels the fire rise; she feels she might just blow,
(like a Christmas cracker)
But no, she keeps to task in hand,
Picks up the spades for digging sand
and smiles her Christmassy smile
through her pearly whites
8hours later they arrive in paradise,
Paradise is Walkerville Caravan Park,
It’s sunny, windy, windy and cold,
Put up the tent, see it’s got mold
No tent pegs or guide ropes too
'At least the parks got showers and loos'
he says sheepishly.
The cracker is ripe
and when it explodes it’s a dud,
Mrs. Claus turns on her heel,
Grabs the arm of a boy, reindeer food
And marches onto the beach
to capture Christmas Eve magic
less the candles, lights, trees and hymns
And there
in the vast embrace of natures nakedness
the magic captures them.
There’s been a drought a 152
It’s not from lack of water though
a,b,c
d and e they once flowed
so easily,
so merrily they made their way
To form a poem, a word display
A picture, story, little song
to illustrate the marching throng (of life!)
It's not from lack of ink or paper.
Just time you see
For Christmas came
Streaming down the freeway
in the latest sporty car
All shiny and bling,
even Jesus had a gold plated crib
A Ralph Lauren Bib
And Mary's got new American Ugg boots.
She was dizzy with the flashing lights
The wilting tree
The Angels plight,
At having to sit on the top branch.
St Nick didn't get a letter but an A4 pad,
How does he do it they wonder?
He doesn't, he passed the buck to me
the cad!
Zooming here, there, every shopping where
The credit cards been working out all year
for this big spender
I wish the credit card police would suspend her,
She’s found online shopping too,
It’s so easy browsing on the sofa
with a nip of Christmas Brandy to help
the net seduce her....
THATS IT, enough she cries
The Christmas mosquito has sucked us dry
We're off to camp somewhere remote
Don't worry kids
Santa’s got the note.
Camping, what was she thinking
(not been for a year or three)
She'd forgotten you have to pack
the loo rolls, beds, pillows, food,
Clothes and boots, trikes and bikes,
Balls and bats, torches, stoves, tables
Chairs, Fishing rods, Canoes and ores
And then her chirpy husband says,
‘Are you packing the kitchen sink as well?'
She feels the fire rise; she feels she might just blow,
(like a Christmas cracker)
But no, she keeps to task in hand,
Picks up the spades for digging sand
and smiles her Christmassy smile
through her pearly whites
8hours later they arrive in paradise,
Paradise is Walkerville Caravan Park,
It’s sunny, windy, windy and cold,
Put up the tent, see it’s got mold
No tent pegs or guide ropes too
'At least the parks got showers and loos'
he says sheepishly.
The cracker is ripe
and when it explodes it’s a dud,
Mrs. Claus turns on her heel,
Grabs the arm of a boy, reindeer food
And marches onto the beach
to capture Christmas Eve magic
less the candles, lights, trees and hymns
And there
in the vast embrace of natures nakedness
the magic captures them.
Sunday, January 9
Queensland's flood crisis
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The latest estimates are that Queensland's floods will cost in excess of 6 billion dollars directly (with much more than that in future lost export earnings) as major floods so far have decimated 24 towns and cities in what has become the largest catastrophe in the states recorded history.
An area exceeding the combined land mass of Belgium and France covering one third of the state is now under floodwaters. Houses, businesses, prime cropping lands and vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges have all been destroyed
You can view a tiny slither of the devastation of one such tiny town prone to flooding from the above video clip. Each day the position has deteriorated with continual torrential rain. The very latest town affected is in Maryborough where businesses and homes in this southeastern district prepare for further extensive flooding with some areas are already inundated.
Further severe weather warnings are predicted to lead to flash flooding in the southeastern coast, the eastern Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.
As a postscript the flash flooding was much worse than expected. Dowling Downs again experienced severe flooding just as the clean up was about to begin. An even bigger wall of water devastated the area as residents talked about over 20 feet of water rising in just few minutes to pick up cars, houses and containers in the toorent like match boxes sewpt down the main street. Already an additional 8 people have been killed and 70 feared drowned who remain missing. Click here to see the effects of the raging waters.
The capital city of Brisbane is now preparing for the worst flood in recorded history with 33 Brisbane suburbs now on high alert as flood waters rise in the west with a wall of water bigger than Sydney Harbour. Flooding is now also expected in parts of NSW which brings back memories of my childhood in Kyogle (located on the Queensland border) during the 1954 record flood when our family home purchased as flood free (it was erected on high stilts), was submerged under the waters of the Richmond River. On that fateful day of cyclonic rain we decided to evacuate to a neighbor on higher ground but my father remained behind in a desperate bid to secure furniture and effects above the encroaching floodwaters.
My mother and I (she was clutching a hurriedly packed suitcase) dashed down the front steps in the pouring rain, up on to the road and across a steep grassy slope to the steps leading up to our neighbors house. After changing I remember joining in with our neighbors’ son fond of playing a pretend priest, as he proceeded to administer his own communion service to cheer us up. Even so I recall feeling less than reassured standing on the front verandah peering through the darkness to see what was happening.
I recall we were able to glimpse my father through the moonlit window vainly swimming around inside the house attempting to place articles above the rising floodwaters. We all breathed an audible sigh of relief as he abandoned his quest and with his usual reassuring slow rhythmic swimming style swam through a half submerged window for the safety of dry land. Hauling himself onto the bank cold and exhausted he eventually joined us on the verandah as we watched our house submerge under the flood waters. Elsewhere homes were being swept away whist others perished as their rescue boat capsized. Throughout the night men in the flimsiest of small boats heroically rescued those stranded on rooftops or left clinging to trees.
I think the aftermath was a time of suffering as I will never forget the all pervasive pungent odor, a reminder of unexpected death and destruction. As our supplies dwindled I recall how pleased we were to hear the faithful drone of a DC 3 aircraft and watch white parachutes drift with supplies into our welcoming hands. Sheets of corrugated iron dislodged from houses were folded at both ends and sealed with tar, to make canoes to deliver the milk and supplies to stranded townsfolk. I recall search parties setting out with grim faces looking for bodies. Every organization rushed to help including the Girl Guides Association who was honored with an international award for outstanding service. All of the community shared in the tragedy and no one felt alone.
It was too painful for my parents to stay so they sold the family home for a fraction of its previous value so that these financial consequences and hardship lingered on for many years afterwards.
The memories of our beloved home in its delightful setting, transformed into a sea of brown surf, remain with me as clear today as they were so long ago.
Today many more again face the same uncertain future and the pictures of those in distress remind us of the fragility of life and the inevitable cycles of flooding rains and droughts which on this scale may only be experienced once in lifetime. It just so happens these weather patterns which have existed for thousands of years repeat to effect huge areas we have built on which become once in lifetime floodplains.
The latest estimates are that Queensland's floods will cost in excess of 6 billion dollars directly (with much more than that in future lost export earnings) as major floods so far have decimated 24 towns and cities in what has become the largest catastrophe in the states recorded history.
An area exceeding the combined land mass of Belgium and France covering one third of the state is now under floodwaters. Houses, businesses, prime cropping lands and vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges have all been destroyed
You can view a tiny slither of the devastation of one such tiny town prone to flooding from the above video clip. Each day the position has deteriorated with continual torrential rain. The very latest town affected is in Maryborough where businesses and homes in this southeastern district prepare for further extensive flooding with some areas are already inundated.
Further severe weather warnings are predicted to lead to flash flooding in the southeastern coast, the eastern Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.
As a postscript the flash flooding was much worse than expected. Dowling Downs again experienced severe flooding just as the clean up was about to begin. An even bigger wall of water devastated the area as residents talked about over 20 feet of water rising in just few minutes to pick up cars, houses and containers in the toorent like match boxes sewpt down the main street. Already an additional 8 people have been killed and 70 feared drowned who remain missing. Click here to see the effects of the raging waters.
The capital city of Brisbane is now preparing for the worst flood in recorded history with 33 Brisbane suburbs now on high alert as flood waters rise in the west with a wall of water bigger than Sydney Harbour. Flooding is now also expected in parts of NSW which brings back memories of my childhood in Kyogle (located on the Queensland border) during the 1954 record flood when our family home purchased as flood free (it was erected on high stilts), was submerged under the waters of the Richmond River. On that fateful day of cyclonic rain we decided to evacuate to a neighbor on higher ground but my father remained behind in a desperate bid to secure furniture and effects above the encroaching floodwaters.
My mother and I (she was clutching a hurriedly packed suitcase) dashed down the front steps in the pouring rain, up on to the road and across a steep grassy slope to the steps leading up to our neighbors house. After changing I remember joining in with our neighbors’ son fond of playing a pretend priest, as he proceeded to administer his own communion service to cheer us up. Even so I recall feeling less than reassured standing on the front verandah peering through the darkness to see what was happening.
I recall we were able to glimpse my father through the moonlit window vainly swimming around inside the house attempting to place articles above the rising floodwaters. We all breathed an audible sigh of relief as he abandoned his quest and with his usual reassuring slow rhythmic swimming style swam through a half submerged window for the safety of dry land. Hauling himself onto the bank cold and exhausted he eventually joined us on the verandah as we watched our house submerge under the flood waters. Elsewhere homes were being swept away whist others perished as their rescue boat capsized. Throughout the night men in the flimsiest of small boats heroically rescued those stranded on rooftops or left clinging to trees.
I think the aftermath was a time of suffering as I will never forget the all pervasive pungent odor, a reminder of unexpected death and destruction. As our supplies dwindled I recall how pleased we were to hear the faithful drone of a DC 3 aircraft and watch white parachutes drift with supplies into our welcoming hands. Sheets of corrugated iron dislodged from houses were folded at both ends and sealed with tar, to make canoes to deliver the milk and supplies to stranded townsfolk. I recall search parties setting out with grim faces looking for bodies. Every organization rushed to help including the Girl Guides Association who was honored with an international award for outstanding service. All of the community shared in the tragedy and no one felt alone.
It was too painful for my parents to stay so they sold the family home for a fraction of its previous value so that these financial consequences and hardship lingered on for many years afterwards.
The memories of our beloved home in its delightful setting, transformed into a sea of brown surf, remain with me as clear today as they were so long ago.
Today many more again face the same uncertain future and the pictures of those in distress remind us of the fragility of life and the inevitable cycles of flooding rains and droughts which on this scale may only be experienced once in lifetime. It just so happens these weather patterns which have existed for thousands of years repeat to effect huge areas we have built on which become once in lifetime floodplains.
Monday, December 20
The big wet
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Except for a small part of Western Australia Australia this year experienced a rain deluge to eclipse all previous records. Everywhere you see a velvet green carpet instead of the usual brown paddocks.
The hopes of farmers were raised early on the expectation for the best harvest ever as a respite from a decade’s long drought. Early optimism is now threatened by simply too much rain preventing harvesting due to widespread flooding. Others unable to spray to repel the expected locusts plague attacks (once the weather finally clears ) may also have their hopes dashed. But despite these setbacks many will rejoice over the rich pastures with abundant fodder for stock or in the dry farming regions which this year promise record yields.
The really good environmental news is the floodwaters have entered and flushed out the mouth of the mighty Murray River ( Australia's largest river system )to restore the ecology of the Coorang. Previously the Coorong dependant for its biological existence on periodic washing from the sea mouth was facing slow strangulation as the mouth remained permanently blocked due to insufficient water flow as too much was taken out for irrigation during the long drought.
But if you would like to view natures ability to renew itself and to work miracles this inspirational story of Lake Eyre with amazing scenery is worth seeing by clicking on the link above. I think you will be suitably impressed with both the scenery and the story.
Finally a joyous season to everyone.
Except for a small part of Western Australia Australia this year experienced a rain deluge to eclipse all previous records. Everywhere you see a velvet green carpet instead of the usual brown paddocks.
The hopes of farmers were raised early on the expectation for the best harvest ever as a respite from a decade’s long drought. Early optimism is now threatened by simply too much rain preventing harvesting due to widespread flooding. Others unable to spray to repel the expected locusts plague attacks (once the weather finally clears ) may also have their hopes dashed. But despite these setbacks many will rejoice over the rich pastures with abundant fodder for stock or in the dry farming regions which this year promise record yields.
The really good environmental news is the floodwaters have entered and flushed out the mouth of the mighty Murray River ( Australia's largest river system )to restore the ecology of the Coorang. Previously the Coorong dependant for its biological existence on periodic washing from the sea mouth was facing slow strangulation as the mouth remained permanently blocked due to insufficient water flow as too much was taken out for irrigation during the long drought.
But if you would like to view natures ability to renew itself and to work miracles this inspirational story of Lake Eyre with amazing scenery is worth seeing by clicking on the link above. I think you will be suitably impressed with both the scenery and the story.
Finally a joyous season to everyone.
Monday, December 6
A revelation
Eschatology comes from the Greek ‘logos’ describing the final or last event, but it also can mean the end of an age or time. In monotheistic religions (religions believing in one God such as Christianity Judaism and Islam) eschatological writings, amongst other things, supported a hope and desire for a kingdom free from suffering and evil. In that context the prophesies were intended as a solace to those suffering, under siege or subject to tribulation to revive drooping hearts with prophetic majesty.
At the time of Jesus a new Messiah was eagerly awaited in Israel, since the Jews, whose ‘Promised Land’ was being confiscated by the Romans, were unable to pay the punitive crippling Roman taxes being imposed, and were being imprisoned or forced to become fisherman, or executed. The Jewish people longed for a Messiah (an anointed one) to come in glory to end the Roman yoke and usher in a new just kingdom. Despite the Roman rule with their multiple Gods worship the Jews were allowed to practice their own religion. The Jewish authorities imposed additional taxes for the upkeep of the temple and priests, creating an uneasy alliance with their Roman occupiers in exchange for continued religious freedom.
It was within this seething cauldron of politics and unrest that Jesus was born and to whom their hope for a new kingdom was attributed. But very little is known about Jesus as any study will quickly conclude historically he barely exists – since there are only two fleeting references outside of the Bible in the whole of cumulative history. References by Tacitus and Pliny in the first century A.D. don’t prove that Jesus Christ existed but rather confirm the existence of Christians at that time.
Within the biblical texts we know a lot about his death and subsequent events but virtually nothing ( except for a brief reference to his excursion into the temple whilst with his parents ) of his earlier life, since what is recorded is almost exclusively confined to his short public ministry, which scholars think lasted only one to three years. All we have in any detail are the accounts recorded in the gospels which consist of parables loosely interwoven into the story of his ministry and death. It seems very likely to me the communities, while initially devastated by his death, thought he would shortly reappear to establish a new messianic kingdom. The fact the gospels were not written until maybe 60- 70 years after his death adds weight to the idea the early church saw no need to record in history what was believed would become irrelevant to be soon supplanted by the establishment of a new messianic kingdom. Further evidence is in Paul’s letters to the fledgling Christian communities in Asia Minor written only about 20-30 years after Jesus’ death which are all strongly rooted in eschatology.
As time progressed the immediacy of this eschatology softened so that by the time Revelations was recorded maybe 80-90 years after his death the language becomes descriptive and less definitive; symbolic seals, plagues, beasts, trumpets and the number 7 describe a new age clothed in mystery. Our modern day understanding can best be understood by reference to allegory, metaphor and myth. Revelations is a personal and cosmological perspective of how Christ’s death and those who suffered martyrdom solidified an everlasting gift of atonement; the metaphorical reference to the slaughtered lamb is the atoning victory of Christ. Revelations is not so much a prophesy about the future but more of an existential revelation, rich in imagery and symbolism of the continuum of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Revelations rallies against the transitory nature of the emperor’s power whose earthly reign is both temporary and illusory compared with the primacy of Christ’s death and resurrection.
The real revelation is the mystery that the kingdom of God is already established as an existential reality, but that it lies tantalizingly outside of the realms of our earthly restraints.
At the time of Jesus a new Messiah was eagerly awaited in Israel, since the Jews, whose ‘Promised Land’ was being confiscated by the Romans, were unable to pay the punitive crippling Roman taxes being imposed, and were being imprisoned or forced to become fisherman, or executed. The Jewish people longed for a Messiah (an anointed one) to come in glory to end the Roman yoke and usher in a new just kingdom. Despite the Roman rule with their multiple Gods worship the Jews were allowed to practice their own religion. The Jewish authorities imposed additional taxes for the upkeep of the temple and priests, creating an uneasy alliance with their Roman occupiers in exchange for continued religious freedom.
It was within this seething cauldron of politics and unrest that Jesus was born and to whom their hope for a new kingdom was attributed. But very little is known about Jesus as any study will quickly conclude historically he barely exists – since there are only two fleeting references outside of the Bible in the whole of cumulative history. References by Tacitus and Pliny in the first century A.D. don’t prove that Jesus Christ existed but rather confirm the existence of Christians at that time.
Within the biblical texts we know a lot about his death and subsequent events but virtually nothing ( except for a brief reference to his excursion into the temple whilst with his parents ) of his earlier life, since what is recorded is almost exclusively confined to his short public ministry, which scholars think lasted only one to three years. All we have in any detail are the accounts recorded in the gospels which consist of parables loosely interwoven into the story of his ministry and death. It seems very likely to me the communities, while initially devastated by his death, thought he would shortly reappear to establish a new messianic kingdom. The fact the gospels were not written until maybe 60- 70 years after his death adds weight to the idea the early church saw no need to record in history what was believed would become irrelevant to be soon supplanted by the establishment of a new messianic kingdom. Further evidence is in Paul’s letters to the fledgling Christian communities in Asia Minor written only about 20-30 years after Jesus’ death which are all strongly rooted in eschatology.
As time progressed the immediacy of this eschatology softened so that by the time Revelations was recorded maybe 80-90 years after his death the language becomes descriptive and less definitive; symbolic seals, plagues, beasts, trumpets and the number 7 describe a new age clothed in mystery. Our modern day understanding can best be understood by reference to allegory, metaphor and myth. Revelations is a personal and cosmological perspective of how Christ’s death and those who suffered martyrdom solidified an everlasting gift of atonement; the metaphorical reference to the slaughtered lamb is the atoning victory of Christ. Revelations is not so much a prophesy about the future but more of an existential revelation, rich in imagery and symbolism of the continuum of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Revelations rallies against the transitory nature of the emperor’s power whose earthly reign is both temporary and illusory compared with the primacy of Christ’s death and resurrection.
The real revelation is the mystery that the kingdom of God is already established as an existential reality, but that it lies tantalizingly outside of the realms of our earthly restraints.
Thursday, November 25
Dinner dance to the tune of the “Degenerates”
The Malawi Support Group held another Fundraiser last Saturday when we were entertained and danced to the wonderful music of the "The Degenerates" who donated their services for our dinner dance.
The performance of this marvelous band seems to become more polished each year. One of our past members of the Malawi Support group who died several years ago told the story to another good friend about his experience whilst serving in the merchant marine in WW2. Whilst under severe bombardment everyone was feeling frightened and miserable but during a lull the ships loudspeakers broadcast the song ‘White Christmas’. He recalled vividly the immediate calming effect on the entire company. One of the band members who was his good friend had asked me to sing that song at a previous function he attended. We repeated the song again at this function in memory of our good friend as a reminder of the universality of music as a source of warmth and hope for the darkest of times.
For more photos visit the Malawi Blog under blogs of interest.
Monday, November 15
Some Enchanted Evening
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Who could fail to appreciate the deep rich baritone voice of Brian Stokes Mitchell singing the part of Emile and the immortal words of ‘ Some Enchanted Evening ‘ from that great Broadway show ‘ South Pacific ‘ from the genius of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Occasionally a singer ‘owns’ a song as it seems no one else can bring that unique powerful vocal interpretation into play; but he is even better singing ‘This nearly was mine’ from the same show but there is a block on the encoding.
Standing next to Brian is Reba McIntyre (who was for 4 years in a row Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year and is also a fabulous actress) in Concert from Carnegie Hall. Reba aptly sings the part of Nellie elswhere in the performance. All I can say if you don’t like this version you don’t like ice-cream.
I have sung the song many times but never heard a version as rich as this one. Surprisingly he does not take the top note at the end; possibly to maintain the depth and tessitura (musically the most comfortable range for a given singer) that encapsulates this song so magically within his vocals range.
Who could fail to appreciate the deep rich baritone voice of Brian Stokes Mitchell singing the part of Emile and the immortal words of ‘ Some Enchanted Evening ‘ from that great Broadway show ‘ South Pacific ‘ from the genius of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Occasionally a singer ‘owns’ a song as it seems no one else can bring that unique powerful vocal interpretation into play; but he is even better singing ‘This nearly was mine’ from the same show but there is a block on the encoding.
Standing next to Brian is Reba McIntyre (who was for 4 years in a row Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year and is also a fabulous actress) in Concert from Carnegie Hall. Reba aptly sings the part of Nellie elswhere in the performance. All I can say if you don’t like this version you don’t like ice-cream.
I have sung the song many times but never heard a version as rich as this one. Surprisingly he does not take the top note at the end; possibly to maintain the depth and tessitura (musically the most comfortable range for a given singer) that encapsulates this song so magically within his vocals range.
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