A Material Salvation

Let’s face it folks, we’re material stuff. Yet our mind, although the stuff of divine is contingent on material for its being. Knock us around a bit and we eventually lose our humanity in fits of disastrous rage as seen in the murderous acts of Chris Benoit—having a brain left looking like Swiss cheese after a career in the WWE. Knock us around a lot and we forget our name, what time used to mean, what used to bother and anger us all the while sitting blissfully in piss and shit-filled underwear, as we drool uncontrollably onto our shirts and laugh in hysterics at the random misfiring that we can hardly call thoughts. Yes, we’re made of flimsy stuff. Man is meant to correct the horror called natural law; survival of the fittest. This world is truly a world that is the analog of hell more surely. We are shown this truth routinely on nature loving TV shows and channels that inadvertently portray the futility and self-perpetuating disaster that is called the animal kingdom. Look a big fish eats a little fish; look a flying bird is pulling out the intestines of the little mouse with its beak and feeding them to its offspring; look a crocodile is competing with the lions for the bloated corps of a wildebeest; look the lion is eating the little cubs of the lioness after having ripped off the genitals of the former dominant male. Truly this is a magnificent and noble design. (The sad thing is that we look at some animals and see beauty, where they themselves see nothing and experience mostly fear or anxiety; that’s a sick trick of this foolish world, but I digress.) We finally have a chance now to push through the darkness of prior times, of times and places where God was everything, the rocks, the water, the trees, the people the animals, the food, the droughts, the happy times, the sadness, the sickness, the health, dark places, and the bright ones; all were enchanted. We war with nature, we war with our neighbor, we war with ourselves, and we war with God. We start to win that war through knowledge and understanding; knowledge of the other (of our neighbor and of God), and the laws of nature. The first step in understanding God is to discover where God is not. As knowledge grows, an interesting thing happens—God disappears from the places where he was formerly thought to reside. This great uncovering sees the places where God does not rightly occupy stripped of this darkness to reveal the truth. God gives birth to the truth, but God is a placeholder for darkness; the truth is the reality of God (the things that are really of God and not our imagination). It’s not enough to have knowledge, because knowledge cannot exist on its own; it takes a society to foster the growth of that knowledge. Yet relying on people as chief stewards of knowledge is very risky; as we have seen throughout history when there is a disagreement about what is known, the knowledge is spoiled because people fight war. People (the stewards of knowledge) are killed, books are burned, storehouses of wisdom crumble, and infrastructure is lost. Just as it is by chance that one species will supersede another species, so too can knowledge succeed in growing in the minds of people across a span of time. This luck has finally happened. Humanity has succeeded in successfully perpetuating knowledge so that we can begin to bring about a material salvation. Paradoxically it was the threat of mutually assured destruction that now bought the time necessary to cooperate to see to it that knowledge be given its rightful place in the order of things. Wars still happen, but only within backward places of this world or by people whose minds are still clouded in darkness.

Selfishness, law unto myself

(Originally penned in 2010) For me there has always been a difficulty in trying to harmonize my tendency towards selfishness with the Christian ideal of selflessness (no doubt other religions teach the same kind of altruism). Paul tirelessly proclaims Christ's message at the expense of his own physical welfare, and writes in his epistle, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering..."

I find it curious how it is possible for the human mind to support its guiding principles, ideals--it's ethos--on ill conceived notions, uninformed assertions or worse, error and self-delusion. I speak from my own authority, who carries in him a human mind wrestling with bouts of self-doubt, insecurity, and hypocrisy--I carry in me a law of selfishness--a law unto myself.

Now I consider the necessity for this condition when I observe around me a culture of compulsive competition: social (who do you know?), economic (what do you have?), intellectual (what do you know?) physical (how do you look?), and experiential (have you done this? have you been there? have you seen this seen this? have you done this? can you do that?) Conforming to one or more of these attributes will help improve one's own success. All of this is evident to a greater or lesser extent as we navigate in modern life. I have been programmed to a certain degree by this culture. I can surely say that I am not alone.

How do I achieve my success? To make my gain I require taking something from someone else. Prosperity is disparity. (A definition of material success requires a continuum from the gutter-most to the utter-most, in other words, the meaning of material success has no meaning if it has no standard. A standard of success is always compared to a standard of non-success.) A commodity has a value, because it is takes work to produce it or has perceived or actual scarcity in the marketplace. As soon as I own a property, it is space that is permanently off limits to someone else. If I carry a dollar, then that dollar carries a debt holder. If I consume a plate of food, then that's one less meal for another.

In order to become successful I must realize my full potential. To do this I must concentrate my own resources to an end that will face this culture of competition. Some of the ways I can compete might include selecting an occupation that is in high demand, learning a useful skill, studying a prominent language, meeting people of high social standing, etc. Oddly enough, when I concentrate this effort upon myself I shall diminish the opportunity another might enjoy if I would have humbly offered my time and energy out of altruistic intention.

On the other hand, it is only by cultivating my own latent potential for success that I generate the momentum necessary to effect a positive impact on society, otherwise my efforts are in vain. For example, if I'm a foreign aid worker who distributes food, I am doing good work by carrying grain to hungry citizens in Africa. But greater good can come about if I add a medical degree and medical practice to his skill set, which can enable me to diagnose and treat illness (a more specialized and demanding vocation). Building this skill set requires temporarily diverting time, money, and effort away from foreign aid work, and concentrating it into prepare myself in the practice of medicine. While I am studying it is possible that some food is not making its way to the hungry and these ones shall suffer.

One theory of reality observes a law of conservation in particle matter (i.e., subatomic particles) that supervenes (e.g., makes dependent) the existence of the macroscopic world. It calls matter and energy one in the same. The fields that the subatomic particles generate are conserved to sustain the atom. This means that if two particles are smashed together you could end up with the same two particles plus other assorted particles. These new particles are not free (something from nothing) instead they appear because the momentum of the collision generated matter from the energy through the conservation of energy. It is only by retaining this energy that mater can exist. This means that the universe contains a finite amount of matter/energy--nothing is created and nothing is destroyed. By extension a certain kind of "selfishness" can be observed by the particles as they are given form through a containment of energy.

Carried to its logical conclusion even human existence itself carries with it a disparity, albeit an abstracted one. The very fact that I am an individual means that no other person will be able to experience my being, my soul. The things that I experience I will never be able to properly convey in words, and even so could never properly render the state of my being into the symbols of language. The state of being is an infinite barrier, standing like silos infinitely tall and infinitely deep. Even if I want to share my joy and impart my glorious visceral realizations, believing that it would help someone in a moment of need; it can never be done in this realm.

In God’s Image and Likeness

(This blog was originally penned in 2010) Gen 1:26 - Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… I recently reflected on the popular Genesis verse that I’ve simply taken for granted all my life. Hearing this statement over and over in Catholic and Protestant services has caused me never to question its truth and applicability. Its truth is assured only if God were the author, because it is granting its creation a very privileged position in the grand scheme. If God is not its author, then… For this post, let me just focus on my concerns about its applicability. I have become exceedingly concerned in my own thinking about the impossibility of true selflessness. My own preference to an altruistic act is disrupted by the massive edifice of total and absolute selfishness that is my human being. Oh yes, I am acting in a socially acceptable manner when I give time and resources to a cause that both I and society have agreed is a benevolent act and graceful act. But looking a little deeper into the intention and biological mechanics I soon see the doubt that has pressed my mind for answers. Let’s look very briefly at my so called selfless act. Why am I doing good works when I support a needy cause? Because the injustice I observe may be met by the surplus resources that I hold in my possession for which I give to resolve my perception of injustice. I see a hungry child, I have food, I wish to fill that child, I hand the child food, see that the food is eaten to the satisfaction of the child, and I gain a sense that the injustice of hunger has been sated. This is a perfect act of benevolence, right? Not so fast. I could be giving food for many different reasons. I might be achieving thoughts of self-aggrandizement; I hold the power over hunger that takes control of this child. I might be putting on display my charity for others to watch; look at me, see how good I am to alleviate the suffering of this child. I might be trying to unload some of my selfish wealth; after my sprawling condo has been furnished with five LCD smart TVs and two SUVs keep each other company in my three-car garage next to my two custom Harleys, I really feel it’s time to give back. I might be giving from my poverty; my bones begin to poke through my skin, the saliva pools in my throat almost making me choke as I hand my precious bread with a holy ecstatic gaze while my weak and shaking hands place the food into the hand of this better and more deserving child. Am I am looking for blessing from God? My body is no better. I see it as fundamentally weak and self-serving. Each cell consumes what it wants, craves and groans when it doesn't have what it wants, sometimes it gives only once it has taken its fill or greedily hoards energy. I`m a total slave to a balanced environment: free of excessive heat or cold, free of cosmic and nuclear radiation, given sufficient atmospheric pressure, given the right mixture of gases, water to act as the medium for my cells, food for my cells to eat, etc. Just take away food from me and watch me change! Just take away water from me and watch me change! Just take away oxygen from me and watch how my cells become very selfish indeed. Surely in all of this I have lost my humanity and cannot live up to my title as made in the image of God.