If history repeats itself, then we are always at some familiar point in that circle, and if that's the case where are we now? This was what my friend said today. Well, not exactly the same, but I put the circle bit into it. It really got me thinking; the naked profundity of his statement. Where are we? is what he asked. With all the conflicts that have been going on; with the seeming indifference of people to Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, Sudan etc.
We have the world in a recession, we have so many wars around the world (50 years ago, this would officially have been named a world war.); there's famine and disaster; most people seem apathetic to the plight of others unless the particular situation affects them directly and when it does affect them, they develop this numbness to it... it is as though their tolerance to their suffering improves as the level of suffering intensifies. It almost resembles that syndrome of the abused spouse, who steadily comes to accept the abuse as part of his/her existence even though it is not right; starts making excuses for the oppressor (government in this case); justifies levels of suffering and keeps telling himself/herself that it will get better, and each time it gets worse, there's a little uproar which settles back into that reticent suffering. It is scary because it makes you realize that not only is the human-being able to survive in the worst of conditions, but more-so how possible it is for nations to be controlled by the few, and made to endure unnecessary hardships in relative silence. It is a bit ironic that as resilient as the human spirit is, it is so easy to 'enslave'. I'm not too sure what it is that makes this possible. Is it that our strength, our resilience, is what makes us perfect for the role of the oppressed? So one of our greatest strengths is our weakness too.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Curtain call.
A friend of mine from a previous life called me out of the blue and started talking about how he'd missed me etc. I thought to myself,'what's going on here?' As it turned out, his best friend had died and it had turned his world upside down in every sense. His friend was young, successful and quite wealthy, I gather, yet was found dead away from friends and family. No warning... It just happened. It seemed this tragic event had forced my friend to re examine his life and reasons for living. I don't mean that he was contemplating suicide, but rather was doing some serious soul searching. He'd probably gotten as far as logic would take him and came to the conclusion that all that really matters in life is that you spend it with people you care about, doing what you'd most like to do, when you would like to do it rather than living in anticipation of the life you'd like to have.
You don't go to the movies to sleep and then wake up at the end to watch the credits, so why do so with your life?
I guess the beauty of life (and perhaps on the flip side, the horror too) is that it is like the theatre. You cannot rewind a scene or an act, just because it did not go according to script, and sometimes you are forced to improvise. You can step on and off stage as and when you like. You may choose to follow the rules strictly, or you may use your own style in which case you either become a star or a failure or worse, never get noticed.. You can be an actor, or a part of the audience and if you like you can even walk out! The funny thing is that regardless of your choice, the show must go on! Might as well be a part of it and enjoy it, because like it or not, every show has a curtain call.
You don't go to the movies to sleep and then wake up at the end to watch the credits, so why do so with your life?
I guess the beauty of life (and perhaps on the flip side, the horror too) is that it is like the theatre. You cannot rewind a scene or an act, just because it did not go according to script, and sometimes you are forced to improvise. You can step on and off stage as and when you like. You may choose to follow the rules strictly, or you may use your own style in which case you either become a star or a failure or worse, never get noticed.. You can be an actor, or a part of the audience and if you like you can even walk out! The funny thing is that regardless of your choice, the show must go on! Might as well be a part of it and enjoy it, because like it or not, every show has a curtain call.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Full of crap and everything else
Now, to you who do not believe. Take a moment to ponder on this.
You never really think about the fact that everything in our body; if put together would make one lethal combination. What do I mean? When you get a touch of food poisoning - what is called gastroenteritis- and you start throwing up and having the runs, does it ever occur to you how amazing it is that at any given moment, we are all walking around with poop in our bodies, yet we do not reek of it? Or the fact that in order for what we take for granted, our health, to exist in good order it is a delicate balance between chemicals and micro organisms, cells, membranes and indeed all that makes us whole. When you get a urinary tract infection, it is often because bacteria from your back passage have contaminated your 'water-works'. Is it not amazing that more people do not have urinary tract infections all that time, considering the proximity of one 'hole' to the next? Considering how many germs we have in our mouths, is it not amazing that our middle ears do not constantly get infected or our sinuses for that matter? Is it not interesting the fact that food goes in one end and faeces through the other end of the same pipe yet, the general movement of things is away from the mouth? Funny how if bacteria from the lower end of your gut enter your mouth you get sick. Such a huge contrast from one end of the pipe to the next! A lot of these things we don't even think about... a bit like the sun which is there; we never think about the possibility of it not rising... Surely, it is not by accident that these things occur in such equilibrium. the fact that our kidneys know what to filter out and what to reabsorb... the various parts of our gut that absorb different things... the fact that the womb and gut share the same space without cross contamination is another miracle... yes... a miracle... miracles are all around us; do not expect to see someone float on air. And speaking of air, is it not amazing that our bodies absorb the right amounts of oxygen or even that the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is just what we need? chicken or the egg? This brings me onto something else.
In spite of the point of view of the Darwinian folk, even they say that something caused the beginning of things.. I take the view of creationism... but it incorporates the darwin point of view... one cannot deny the existence of fossils and as a result, the creatures that left them behind. However, one cannot simply leave the wonder of creation into the hands of some chance happening and simple choices of organisms to evolve. In my opinion it makes sense that there is a connectedness from the most basic organism to the most complex if they are all created by/of the same source. I believe the real story of living things lies in a marriage between the darwinian school of thought and creationism. However, regardless of what you choose to believe, one cannot deny the amazing compartmentalization that exists in our bodies!!!
You never really think about the fact that everything in our body; if put together would make one lethal combination. What do I mean? When you get a touch of food poisoning - what is called gastroenteritis- and you start throwing up and having the runs, does it ever occur to you how amazing it is that at any given moment, we are all walking around with poop in our bodies, yet we do not reek of it? Or the fact that in order for what we take for granted, our health, to exist in good order it is a delicate balance between chemicals and micro organisms, cells, membranes and indeed all that makes us whole. When you get a urinary tract infection, it is often because bacteria from your back passage have contaminated your 'water-works'. Is it not amazing that more people do not have urinary tract infections all that time, considering the proximity of one 'hole' to the next? Considering how many germs we have in our mouths, is it not amazing that our middle ears do not constantly get infected or our sinuses for that matter? Is it not interesting the fact that food goes in one end and faeces through the other end of the same pipe yet, the general movement of things is away from the mouth? Funny how if bacteria from the lower end of your gut enter your mouth you get sick. Such a huge contrast from one end of the pipe to the next! A lot of these things we don't even think about... a bit like the sun which is there; we never think about the possibility of it not rising... Surely, it is not by accident that these things occur in such equilibrium. the fact that our kidneys know what to filter out and what to reabsorb... the various parts of our gut that absorb different things... the fact that the womb and gut share the same space without cross contamination is another miracle... yes... a miracle... miracles are all around us; do not expect to see someone float on air. And speaking of air, is it not amazing that our bodies absorb the right amounts of oxygen or even that the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is just what we need? chicken or the egg? This brings me onto something else.
In spite of the point of view of the Darwinian folk, even they say that something caused the beginning of things.. I take the view of creationism... but it incorporates the darwin point of view... one cannot deny the existence of fossils and as a result, the creatures that left them behind. However, one cannot simply leave the wonder of creation into the hands of some chance happening and simple choices of organisms to evolve. In my opinion it makes sense that there is a connectedness from the most basic organism to the most complex if they are all created by/of the same source. I believe the real story of living things lies in a marriage between the darwinian school of thought and creationism. However, regardless of what you choose to believe, one cannot deny the amazing compartmentalization that exists in our bodies!!!
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