Lessons

I've learnt many lessons from my daughter.

One of the most poignant however has been the nature of human suffering.

Recently, my little one has gotten a cold. Through this process, she's been very uncomfortable, very unhappy and quite miserable, I should know, I have it too. So, I began to think of ways to spare my child the worst elements of this sickness, which then led me to thinking of ways to reduce sickness in general. Maybe there is a country out there where we'd be less likely to get sick? Maybe being in a warmer climate may help? What if we just limit contact with others during specific times of the year?

All of these passing thoughts lead me to realize an important life lesson. We cannot avoid hardship, pain, suffering, sickness. These things are necessary. If my daughter didn't ever get sick or have a cold, her immune system wouldn't develop well. Then, if she ever needed to fight off any pathogens, her body would either over-react (allergies) or not respond appropriately leading to more sickness.

God sometimes throws hardship at us. Sometimes it is light adversity but at other times, life can get very difficult. These experiences are meant to strengthen us. Yes, it is often possible to run away from adversity. At times, we have the option of hiding or avoiding difficulties. What is the outcome? We don't grow, we don't develop.

Facing our difficulties, realizing these challenges are there for a purpose gives us meaning. This may be us imposing our own beliefs on the world, but giving meaning to experience is such a human thing to do.

Thank you my beautiful child for teaching me that I cannot keep you from harm, I cannot prevent you from growing as you are meant to grow. I cannot clip your wings - I will leave you to make that decision yourself when you can.

Waves

I was at the beach today and noticed a very odd, but well-known phenomenon.

As the waves crashed onto the shore, some of them didn’t travel very far onto the shores of the beach, but some travelled quite a ways.

We know why this is and there are a few reasons for this, but one of the most important ones has to do with interference patterns of waves, something many of us may have learned in high school physics. As a wave comes onto the shore, it hits land, slows, stops and then travels back towards the water, it’s origin. The next wave that comes onto the shore is then attenuated, because it also encounters the resistance of the first wave traveling backwards. This means that the second wave doesn’t travel as far as the first one. However, there is also a third wave. This one meets less resistance than the one prior and travels farther than its predecessor.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of timing, luck and circumstance. Sometimes, we are that first wave, the one that meets no resistance outside of natural limitations, in these cases we can really make a large impact, if we put all of our work and effort into what we do.

In some cases, we are that second wave. No matter how hard we work, there will be things that work against us, and we may not progress to the extent we work.

In other cases, we can be that third wave. We have been fortunate to be traveling on a path that has already been trodden. Many of the challenging obstacles have been removed from our path, and we can really make great progress.

So it is with most matters in our lives. At times, we can spiritually grow unencumbered, to grow into new fields, at others, our purpose is to clear a path for others, those who will come behind us, and sometimes, our purpose is to stretch the limits and boundaries.

The important thing is to try our best in all situations and to not be disheartened when things do not go our way. Nature gives us parables for all that happens in our lives. The lesson here is to do your utmost, either you will reap the benefits, or the children of our world will.

Purpose

I enjoy working. It provides me with purpose, it provides for myself and my family's needs. It also fills my days.

I wonder though at what my purpose is?

This isn't meant to be an existential question. I firmly believe one of the repercussions of having free will (whether we do or do not is debatable, but I've covered my thoughts on this in a previous post) is that we have the choice to do nothing with our lives. We do not have a set "purpose," in life, rather, we create our own purpose.

However, what is the point of daily toil? Where does it eventually lead us? If the purpose of working hard is so that one day I can retire... Why not retire now? If the purpose of daily toil is so that I can have a lifestyle where I can purchase any item or travel anywhere without working - this leaves out the value found in working. This lifestyle can be achieved easily - by lowering your standards for what you want to buy.

The point is, that working hard has it's own purpose, it is not the means to an end. It is the means and the end. Working through our lives, providing benefit to society and to ourselves is a reward and a journey in and of itself. Working with a goal in mind - like eventual retirement - will not lead to happiness.

What will lead to the elusive goal of happiness?

Finding a balance. Living a life filled with work, family, prayer and knowledge. Finding time for your soul daily, regardless of whether you're working or not. Retirement shouldn't come for any of us, because our traditional model in our North American society is flawed. When we reserve segments of our lives for work and for play, we are relegating our own lives to having useful and less useful portions.

Does this reflect a good life?

A good life is seen in a holistic way. We live good lives when we don't compartmentalize. When we don't split apart our joys and our sadnesses. When we let ourselves feel.

Often times, we judge our own emotions and feelings. I often think - why am I sad? I have nothing to be sad about. I have a wonderful life, a wonderful family and friends. However, that sublimates the emotion without examining the source of it.

Our emotions, whether positive or negative are at the end of the day wellsprings of the spirit. We feel because God wishes us to feel. Our sadnesses, our happinesses, our anger and our peace. All of these are there for a reason.

These emotions and our ability to fully experience them and explore their root causes. I have come to believe that these constitute a good life. A good life stems from letting ourselves live it. From not allowing our minds to fully compartmentalize our emotions and our time into time for work, prayer, play and family. Some degree of separation is required for us to function but perhaps this is far less than we may believe.

Live and feel. That is what makes a good life, or at least a life worth living.

Change

It becomes more and more apparent to me as I watch my son grow older that change is inevitable.

It isn't in the major things that I notice it. Yes, looking at pictures of him from even a few months ago, I notice a tremendous difference. It isn't in his eloquence, in his ability to convey himself. It isn't in the fact that he has friends, preferences, tastes that have not been inculcated in him by either parent.

It's in the little things. It's in the way one week, he'll say, "nut-king" when trying to say "nothing" and the next week, that endearing phrase is gone forever.

It is a bit sad, seeing him grow up. Seeing him change, seeing him grow into his own person. It's also the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Knowing that whatever he becomes will be based, in no small part, on me is a truly humbling thing.

I don't know what he will be. I don't know how he will grow, but I do know that whatever it is, I will be so very proud of him.

Therein is the lesson and the esoteric aspect of this. The pride we have for our children is positive. Pride is something that we see as being a negative aspect of the self, but when it is pride for another... it's a bit different.

My son still teaches me about life and about my spirit. In small lessons like not over-extending myself, to bigger ones, like realizing that the universe cannot be static.

He's my constant teacher and I am a very proud and humble student.

By the way, if my daughter ever reads this, I'll write one for you too ... when you're older. :) Don't worry, I'll always be proud of both of you.

Truth

What is the truth?

Is there such a thing?

Is truth self-evident?

These are questions that have been with us since there have been questions to ask. Does truth truly exist and what form does it take?

Truth is subjective, yet objective at the same time. My truth may differ from your truth - in cosmetic ways, but at the end of the day, everything is truth. What does this mean? It means, even that which seems wrong is truth in it's truest essence, because nothing can exist apart from truth.

Truth is God, truth is within everything that exists and without existence itself. There is truth and simultaneously, there is not. Because the very bounds of existence itself cannot apply. The bounds of non-existence too do not apply.

Truth is self-evident - how can it be otherwise? It cannot be explained, it is inexplicable, thus the only way to recognize it is through knowing. This means, truth can only be self-evident. When it is known, it is obvious, it is understood completely. When it is unknown, it is unrecognizable, it lies dormant, waiting for you to look and find it.

Truth is.

Science

Recently I've heard some say that they do not believe in God and that they are atheist. Often times, it is because this school of thought resonates with those who wish to follow the principles of science instead of faith. There are also several surveys that have found a majority of intellectuals, university professors, etc... profess to having no faith.

I find this to be quite interesting.

To my flawed and limited knowledge, science as we know it today is based on the scientific method, which relies on repeated observations of phenomena in controlled circumstances to infer as to the cause of said phenomena. Science is built upon the null hypothesis, that is disproving things. It is far easier to disprove anything than to actually prove it. This means that by it's very nature science is not about proving any singular truth. Rather, science and experimentation tell us what cannot be true, and we are left to infer from all of the remaining possibilities what is most likely to be "true," (or at least less likely to be disproved).

Science, by it's nature recognizes that what is seen as fact today will not be so in the future (with the possible exception of some fundamental basics, but even these are only possible exceptions). What seemed impossible decades ago is fact today, what seems erroneous today, may prove to be relevant tomorrow.

This means that a true scientist, and a truly honest intellectual cannot be fixated on any one truth. Whatever that may be. There is no one truth in science, there are only a limitless number of non-truths, which when removed from the equation bring us to a closer approximation of reality.

With this being the case, how can any honest intellectual ever truly discard the possibility of God?

Maybe God does not exist in the manner commonly referred to in traditional forms, maybe the Creator is not found in man-shape atop a cloudy heaven with hosts of angelic beings around Him. This however, does not discount the possibility of there being a creator.

If scientific endeavors have taught me anything, it is that we cannot discard anything that has not been disproved conclusively through rigorous testing. The existence or non-existence of God cannot be proven or unproven through the methods known to science today. As a result, this question cannot be conclusively answered.

However, stating that one is an atheist is stating something that cannot be proven is false in one's own mind. This would be okay, if this perception was kept to an individual level, but oftentimes it is not, with those practicing religious traditions being the subjects of ridicule.

It is okay to believe in God, it is okay to not believe in God. No one can make you believe or disbelieve, but try not to discard the possibility. It is quite unscientific to do so.

Justice

We all desire justice.

It is a fundamental human desire to see fairness in our world, however subjective that "fairness" may be. It can even be argued that justice is a desire found throughout the animal kingdom (as can be seen in the famous capuchin monkey experiment - if you haven't seen it, Youtube it). This desire for justice though is a very curious thing in it's subjectivity. We are completely okay with an imbalance that works in our favour - we justify it by saying we, "deserve this," or, "it is the way it has to be," or even, "thank goodness that wasn't me."

Evolutionarily it makes sense. We don't want others to have an advantage over us. That advantage could manifest itself into a slight edge for survival. The curious thing is that we still insist on calling it a sense of "justice."

Justice needs fairness in an equal manner. It needs objectivity. This is especially salient when we look at today's world and our short attention spans.

We have millions of displaced people in Syria. These people are suffering in conditions that are terrible and are being forced to migrate away from their ancestral homes in a struggle to survive and better their lives (something that they deserve as human beings). We forget about all of these displaced people the moment there is a chemical weapons attack and a military offensive by the US against Syria.

Then, we forget about the chemical weapons attack and the retaliatory measures the moment a doctor gets dragged off a United Airlines flight. Why does this happen? Because we can easily relate to that doctor, that could have been me! Can I picture myself and my family as refugees?

I saw this happen in my own life over the past week. I am ashamed to say, that I had forgotten about those suffering in Syria. My attention focused on chemical weapons and why this attack mattered. Then, the new obsession of the week became United Airlines and how they mistreat their customers.

We want justice, but do we really understand what it is?

Justice is not forgetting South Sudan. Justice is not forgetting the Central African Republic, North Korea, Syria, Iraq. Justice is hard. It is easy to move one's attention from one "flavour of the week" to the next, but it is exceptionally hard to truly desire justice.

Because fairness for all isn't just about you and I. It's about looking out for everyone, realizing we're all equal in the eyes of God. Even if it is just a prayer, send some love the way of those who really need it in the world.

Life isn't fair, but we can at least try to make it a bit more just.