Bless the Light That Reason Lends

 we have returned from our travels and are grateful for the natural beauty we enjoyed on our journey, as well as for our safe arrival back home.  one of the last stops we made was at the "ark encounter," which bills itself as an authentic replica of noah's ark that is described in the book of genesis.  this ark is a gigantic wooden structure, claiming to be the largest timber frame building in the world.  if an ancient israelite, such as noah, had built such a boat, it would never have been seaworthy, resulting in the end of all creatures on the earth, if the genesis story is to be believed as literal truth.

the kentucky ark is a boondoggle in many ways:

• it is obviously a money-making scheme for its creator, ken ham.  everywhere one turns, there is an opportunity to spend more money.  there are zip-line and virtual reality adventures, along with multiple gift shops and concession stands.  it costs ten dollars to park your car, on top of the fee for entering the ark.  as seniors we paid a discounted rate of about forty dollars per person for admission; a regular adult ticket costs fifty dollars.
• the ark displays teach that the bible is literally true in every detail.
• there are displays that insist that dinosaurs and humans lived on the earth at the same time.  "baby" dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurus rex, are portrayed as some of the inhabitants of noah's ark.
• one of the presentations tells us that all humankind is descended from noah's three sons and their wives.  one pair parented all inhabitants of africa, another all europeans and asians, and the third all people of middle-eastern descent.
• the ark's creator insists that the earth is only six thousand or so years old and that the universe was created in six days, as the book of genesis tells us.  he presents a timeline that purports to explain how all of earth's history fits a literal interpretation of the biblical account.
• though the pairs of animals in the ark encounter are limited to only a few species, (between 60 and 70, if i remember correctly), ham insists that all animals that exist today are descended from this limited animal population.  using his reasoning, every type of bovine on earth now descended from the one pair of this "type," as ham describes each pair, so that we are to believe that bison and oxen, as well as every other bovine, are descendants of the single pair of cattle on the ark.

this list could go on and on.  ham has built a "creation museum" about an hour away from the ark encounter that reinforces and expands on the presentations in the ark encounter.  fortunately, we did not have an opportunity to invest more money in his denials of science.  we went to the ark encounter because some close relatives who met us in kentucky as we were returning home sincerely believe in what ham teaches.  we didn't want to cause pain to these relatives or engage in a debate with them about their beliefs, so we went through the ark with them and refrained from discussing what we saw while we were with them.

we think that a great deal of harm flows from ham and others like him who insist that credible scientists in many fields are wrong about the history of the universe.  this denial of scientific evidence is the source of a mindset that leads people to refuse vaccines that are safe and effective, to believe in racist points of view based on misunderstanding about the contents of the bible, and a refusal to associate with diverse groups of people who are different from them in many ways.  the "young earth creationist" philosophy distorts the teachings of the bible and turns the bible into something that it is not: a collection of valid historical writings.  when one insists on a literal reading of the contents of the bible, the more profound truths that underlie many of the stories in the bible are lost.  for instance, what are we to make of the two visions of God presented in the noah story?  are we to believe in a vengeful god that would destroy all living beings because of the sins of many, in a god that would select the members of one family for survival while all others are destroyed, or in a God that values life and vows never to cause such destruction again?  it seems to me that the latter vision of God is the understanding that ought to be valid for followers of jesus, rather than the legalistic god that is so often portrayed in the writings of the old testament and continues to be seen in versions of christianity that focus on humans as corrupt and depraved.

may we use our brains to ferret out the truth, rather than succumbing to superstition.  may we not confuse religion and science, making of each something it was never intended to be.  if we believe in a god, may that god be a God of love and mercy.  shalom.

Homeward Bound

 tomorrow we will start our journey towards home.  i know that as we travel westward over the next four days i will have little time to write, so today i'm writing a brief meditation about what's on my mind.  i jotting this down quickly and won't even take time to proofread.  please forgive any mistakes.  

last week i wrote about attachment to possessions.  we can be attached to so many things, and as i contemplate the upcoming trip, i think about my attachment to home.  after being away, i long for home.  i wonder how those who have no fixed home deal with their wandering.  i wonder if they long for home or if home has a different meaning for them.  i wonder if i can let go of my attachment to the idea of home.

we are attached to so much, not just home or possessions.  we are attached to our spouse, our children, our extended family, our friends, our concept of who we are, our thought, the foods we love.  the list could go on.  so as i think about attachment, i wonder if i could ever let go of all my attachments, or if i should release myself from attachment.  this is what i will think of in the moments i have for solitary thought during our trip back to where we started our adventure.

in the meantime, may we all be peaceful and at ease.  shalom.

Live, Love, Laugh, and Be Happy

 as we've been on our travels, one of the things we've enjoyed doing is going through "antique malls" where collectors rent small spaces within a large warehouse sort of building where they display things they want to sell .  much of what we see are small knickknacks and household goods, such as dishes and stemware, that were once treasures in someone's home.  i often think about the former owners of these things.  what were their lives like?  how would they feel if they could see the things they loved displayed for sell in such a place?

during our lives, we collect so many things.  in our own home, we have many sets of dishes that we love to use.  we have crystal stemware for special occasions.  we have beautiful objects that we delight in.  we have furniture that has special meaning for us and that we have enjoyed using through our years together.  when we are gone, little of it will find a place in our children's homes.  most of the things we have delighted in will either be sold in an estate sale or wind up in an antique mall somewhere.  no one who sees what we have collected during our lives will know our history or the special meaning these objects held for us.  the detritus of our existence will be dispersed for someone else's enjoyment or profit, and our lives will be but memories to those who knew us.

this is the common experience of all of us.  our worldly possessions will pass from us at some point, perhaps when we are forced to move into smaller living quarters or into a care facility because of the infirmities of old age, perhaps when we pass from this existence.  the joys and cares of our lives will disappear with these objects, and it will be as if we had not existed, except in others' memories and in the good and bad we have done during our lifetimes.  we hope that our lives will be cherished by those we have touched during our time on this earth, but our bodies will disintegrate and return to the earth from which we came.  the saying, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" is so true, and it is the ultimate end that all of us have in common.  the objects we loved will take on different meanings than what they meant to us.  our association with them will be forgotten.

may we remember that what is important is the good that we do, not how much we possess.  in the end, those possessions become meaningless, except to those who knew us most intimately.  may we cherish the memories that are associated with the things that we love, while releasing ourselves from attachment to them.  may we distinguish between what is essential and what is not.  may we not cling to or crave that which is not essential.  may we know that in the end, only lovingkindness and compassion are truly important.  shalom.

On the Road Again 2

 my wife and i are traveling.  right now we are in the shenandoah valley of virginia.  today we are going into west virginia to see one of the most famous bridges in the usa--the bridge over the new river gorge.  we have seen so much beautiful natural scenery on this trip: mountains, forests, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and streams of various sizes.  my time for writing is limited, so i will close with this:

may you be filled with lovingkindness and compassion;

may you be well;

may you be peaceful and at ease;

may you be joyful.