Sunday Musings - January 31, 2021
We in the United States are 11 days into the administration of President Biden. We are 1/12th of the way through 2021. In this country and many others many struggle to find a balance between establishing a friendlier, survivable marriage with the environment and the needs of those who are not only in need of a decent paying job but who are attached to the belief that they should be able to retain their current fossil fuel related jobs. We are attempting to balance the need to greatly lessen the power of covid-19 and its variants and the right many feel to not get the vaccine when it is available as well as the right to not wear a mask. We are also in the midst of revisiting the definition of when human life begins; of the extent to which resources such as food and health care should be shared; and whether we want to continue to treat addiction and other mental illness as an equal opportunity illness or to more firmly hold on to our attachment to the delusion that all but a very humans have free will which operates by some divine intervention rather than being determined by the science of all the factors which determine the neurology of the brain which in turn determine the decisions we make.
We also continue to be in the midst or a life and death wrestling match between those who are so passionately attached to some of their beliefs that they are willing to forge ahead with a take no prisoners approach to protecting the so called rights of the few, often at the expense of the many.
How we, as a nation and as a universe, resolve these and related issues will determine the future of not only the United States and of all countries but of the planet. Many of us humans seem to want to hold on to a belief that we are somehow so close to our version of the divine that we can ignore the fact that we are not in charge.
On this last day of January 2021 I am convinced that we are but a minuscule part of the whole. We are so amazing that we can build machines which allow us to poorly mimic the ability of many birds to fly long distances; have the ability to create temporary costumes to mimic the brilliant but often very practical costumes of our fellow creatures; and can temporarily extend the average life span until some organism so small we cannot see it with the naked eye elects to begin a pandemic which in the United States alone has, in the space of a year, killed off more people than we have usually managed to kill off with our war machines.
On this last day of January 2021 we must, as a species, again ask the purpose of this very brief life journey. Philosophers and theologians have been asking this question for as long as we have been able to articulate it; as long as we have had the luxury or the misfortune of moving beyond the illusion of mere survival. The question is an important one but one which defies the self-satisfying and seemingly eloquent answers of many. Philosophers and theologians forget that their primary role is to articulate the questions; not to provide answers. Some simple servant teachers such as Jesus, the Buddha and a few others knew our purpose was no more complicated than the so called simplest of our “fellow” planet travelers. It is perhaps to take care of each other; to give to each other even when that means the giving of ourselves; to love and let go; to be present with a great deal of joy and laughter; to accept that all is only for this moment; to raise our young and to let them go; to groom each other; to be with and to separate.
Written January 31, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
We in the United States are 11 days into the administration of President Biden. We are 1/12th of the way through 2021. In this country and many others many struggle to find a balance between establishing a friendlier, survivable marriage with the environment and the needs of those who are not only in need of a decent paying job but who are attached to the belief that they should be able to retain their current fossil fuel related jobs. We are attempting to balance the need to greatly lessen the power of covid-19 and its variants and the right many feel to not get the vaccine when it is available as well as the right to not wear a mask. We are also in the midst of revisiting the definition of when human life begins; of the extent to which resources such as food and health care should be shared; and whether we want to continue to treat addiction and other mental illness as an equal opportunity illness or to more firmly hold on to our attachment to the delusion that all but a very humans have free will which operates by some divine intervention rather than being determined by the science of all the factors which determine the neurology of the brain which in turn determine the decisions we make.
We also continue to be in the midst or a life and death wrestling match between those who are so passionately attached to some of their beliefs that they are willing to forge ahead with a take no prisoners approach to protecting the so called rights of the few, often at the expense of the many.
How we, as a nation and as a universe, resolve these and related issues will determine the future of not only the United States and of all countries but of the planet. Many of us humans seem to want to hold on to a belief that we are somehow so close to our version of the divine that we can ignore the fact that we are not in charge.
On this last day of January 2021 I am convinced that we are but a minuscule part of the whole. We are so amazing that we can build machines which allow us to poorly mimic the ability of many birds to fly long distances; have the ability to create temporary costumes to mimic the brilliant but often very practical costumes of our fellow creatures; and can temporarily extend the average life span until some organism so small we cannot see it with the naked eye elects to begin a pandemic which in the United States alone has, in the space of a year, killed off more people than we have usually managed to kill off with our war machines.
On this last day of January 2021 we must, as a species, again ask the purpose of this very brief life journey. Philosophers and theologians have been asking this question for as long as we have been able to articulate it; as long as we have had the luxury or the misfortune of moving beyond the illusion of mere survival. The question is an important one but one which defies the self-satisfying and seemingly eloquent answers of many. Philosophers and theologians forget that their primary role is to articulate the questions; not to provide answers. Some simple servant teachers such as Jesus, the Buddha and a few others knew our purpose was no more complicated than the so called simplest of our “fellow” planet travelers. It is perhaps to take care of each other; to give to each other even when that means the giving of ourselves; to love and let go; to be present with a great deal of joy and laughter; to accept that all is only for this moment; to raise our young and to let them go; to groom each other; to be with and to separate.
Written January 31, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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