Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: February 11, 2006
Good Sabbath
February 11, 2006
"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature; and it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we are trying to solve."
(Max Planck)
Spirituality is in the individual soul-building of humans, as George Carlin says: "just when I found out the meaning of life, they changed it."
As science searches the mysteries of the brain, I realize that there is separation between brain and mind. The brain is a physical cauldron of chemistry and matter; the mind is the thought and action of mortals. A "culture" to a bacteriologist is a vessel filled with bacteria for observation. Culture to a society is the nature of how a community acts and propels itself. It is the togetherness of foul-smelling deed or sweet smelling reward.
Fashion is how the sophisticated dress, where skinny "manikins" wear the designs of the eccentric which young women imitate as young men ignore it. In looking at the NY Times fashion pages, I see our culture disappear into eccentricity, but worse, none-discipline. It used to be that there was matching of colors and designs; today nothing matches except by accident. I see 6 designs for the female that go from Victorian to imitation male and the one young male, wears no socks, a "cuff-line" that is erratic as a teenagers' behavior, a thin tie, jeans that are ripped, patched, worn-out (though new) and a jacket that passes for dressy that must have slipped in by accident.
I read the review of the "New Pink Panther" movie with a great line that really describes modern politics: "The new Clouseau emerges triumphant from the wreckage of his own incompetence just like the old one...and you feel none of the empathy you once did for him, which repeatedly confirmed that the world really is the kind of place where stupidity is lavishly rewarded."
With all the celebrated tools of communication and hi-tech, we are lost in world where we are not sure from one moment to another--not sure of the values and meaning of life: money, power, or humility and kindness—or some combination?
Our "sophistication flies in the face of wisdom and history where we doom ourselves by ignoring experience; we've lost common sense and common decency in the name of our gods of vengeance who spend all their time trawling for insults, in the name of which they burn, batter, insult and act as only mobs can.
In the meantime, back at the labs, we attach electrodes to our brains to find where partisan thinking and emotional flares are born. We attempt to see if we can locate where lying is invented and holiness is prevented, where passion is ignited and tenderness cultivated.
I spoke before the conference of appraisers, who are professionals at numbers and comparative values. I haven't been in any mood to make speeches these days, because of Fran's affliction, which still defies analysis. I mentioned my sweetheart's travail and at the end of my stream of consciousness, I was surrounded by well-wishers, couldn't get out of the parking lot for 25 minutes, and thanked two women who had been reduced to tears. It was a wonderful collective expression of fellow-humans who are interested in more than numbers. One man reminded me of where we both were more than forty years ago, for memory is more than for those who have passed on; rather it is time that passes on, for everything changes as human folly remains the same. There is always a new despot, another Iran, the birthing of a tyrant, the losing of liberty and possession. We are desperate for leadership, which cares nothing for politics, but seeks justice for those it leads.
Fran's blood pressure has become stabilized, but her breathing is still the problem. My car turns into Scripps Hospital automatically. Each test comes out well and the mystery proceeds through its non-solution.
"Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience and the council-chamber of thought." (Basil)
The time is now for thoughtfulness, for leadership that cares more than it speaks, for ethics is behavior-not propaganda.
sandy
