The Global Musings of an Educated Man.............vol. 127
Is there anything in your life that is transcendent? Is there something that gives your life meaning? Can science and religion exist at the same time and space? Sure they can. They are both flip sides of the same coin, the search for truth.
I was lucky enough to catch Bill Moyer's Journal last night on PBS, where his guest was NYU President John Sexton, and they were discussing the class that Dr. Sexton teaches, "Baseball as a Path to GOD." The title immediately grabbed my attention, and I began to wish where do I sign up? It is the vehicle for finding something, anything, in our daily lives that gives us meaning as a people, a person, a wife, a husband, a mother or father, son or daughter, friend or neighbor. It is asking us to "think strange." Some of us may be more advanced than others at that. I'm just saying. Sorry, had to get that in there. Other than the obvious answer of children giving your life meaning, what else is there? What do we as a general public, or myself as a person, give myself and ourselves meaning in this attention deficit disordered, immediate gratification world of today? In the past for America, there was Baseball, and for some there still is, that each spring rewards us with glimpses of what might be, but as Bill Moyers asked, "How do you respond to Mark Mcgwire, admitting that he took steroids to break the home run record?" Dr. Sexton's response was perfect...."There have always been bad Popes."
Dr. Sexton posed questions to ask of ourselves such as "Am I living a useful life?"
He educated me to the fact that our political discussions have "fallen into a discourse by slogan" or sound bites if you will. There is no substance, no nuances that people can wrap their heads around. Instead, we as a people "listen in feedback loops" only listening to what we want to hear, simply reinforcing our own beliefs, and not forcing us to "think strange." For 8 years we had a president that would not change his mind on anything, and did we then adapt that quality of his for our own, or have we been sliding down the slippery slope for so long, that it just seems natural to never hear another side of a discussion. To never admit that we might be wrong or be headed in the wrong direction. That there might be a different path to take to get to the final destination we are all headed.
Are we too far on either the right or the political left to reach any common ground? How long will we go on getting nothing done of any substance because of it? Instead we are left with the fact that "there is no marketplace of respect" in today's political discourse. We've given birth to a "society of distrust and cynicism" and unfortunately a lot of our elected officials have done nothing to deserve any respect, and I admit I can be rather distrustful and cynical when it comes to the government, but I still believe that there are more than two answers to a problem. There are more than two viewpoints held so firmly by the two major political parties in this great country of ours. So as a solution, we need to set up ourselves for "making new memories." We need to more often than never at all, take ourselves out of our comfort zones. We need to stretch our minds more and begin to "think strange."
On a personal note of accomplishment, a monologue-rant of mine has been selected to be performed by the Metro State University theater group at the end of the month in their "Theater Du-Jour" performances, and if interested in attending please contact me and I can try to get you RSVP'd for seats, there is no charge, just donations if so moved. My monologue will not be longer than 4minutes, to not demand too much of anyone's attention, but, it's another step on this beautiful path.
Much peace and happiness.
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