Saturday afternoon at poolside while taking in some sun, my apartment neighbors seem to have drifted off to other busy activities...I look up at that big blue Texas sky dotted with a few puffy white clouds which drift slowly by me. If they drift slowly, well, maybe I can idle here some more. But my mind keeps running up onto those passing clouds and thoughts jump into my consciousness..."Why are those clouds up there for me to watch?...Even why am I here??...Where did all of this "stuff" come from? As a physician and geneticist, I realize that even the un-winding of the secrets of life by understanding DNA and the physico-chemical nature of life still leave lots of questions unanswered. The ultimate origin and purpose of all this "stuff" in and around me remains a mystery...a question which seeks to be answered.
The Greek philosophers grabbed lint out of their navels, looked at the world and sky around them and, you know what, they had these same questions. They developed very carefully thought-out responses and frequently used complex terminology to describe them which can be obscure to anyone except themselves. But they weren't the first humans to ask these questions (nor the last ones). The early aboriginal tribes left indications of similar thoughts in the form of petroglyphs and traditions. These earlier human cultures had minimal understanding of the basic natural forces which have been better revealed to us by modern science. I wonder...suppose they were "time-traveled" forward into this post-modern world of constant busyness and ever-reaching scientific knowledge,...would they still ask these basic questions?? "Why and from where did all of this "stuff" come from?...Who am I and why am I here?" or maybe they would be so dazzled by the latest scientific discovery that they would accept any answer that other people might give them?
It takes a decision of the individual if they will simply INGEST without question possible answers to such fundamental questions or will they decide to INQUIRE and seek their own answers!
I come to the realization that here at poolside this decision is still relevant to me now. I have several choices...I can be lazy and ignore these issues or...I can simply hear-out the predigested thoughts of others and incorporate their ideas as mine...or I can take some precious time, sit back, and use my own brain powers of reason to seek some answers.
St Francis often climbed up the rocky slopes of Mt Subasio...traveling upward from his native city of Assisi until he arrived at some steep clefts in the mountain's face. There, resting on a out-crop of hard rock, he stared upward at the sky in thought and prayer. He had a special and favorite spot to do this and today you can vist it and join in his similar persuit. There you'll find some bronze sculptures of him and some followers ...sitting or lying on their backs...looking upward in thought seeking answers and resting in appreciation for the "world stuff" around them. Francis' knowledge of the natural world was much less than our understanding today. Yet, he took what he knew and his knowledge of the Scriptures and saw within them some answers to these fundamental human questions ..."Why am I here?...Who am I and what is my real purpose in life?"
In the weeks ahead will you join me up there on that hillside?...We can do it here through the blog. It may require that we take a little time to withdraw from our usual busy daily activities to think...really THINK. But if we, too, ask some of these basic human questions, we may join St.Francis with answers to them. He found peace and life purpose in his answers and we can too.
Read-on and we can climb this mountain together.....maybe even while we stay at poolside!
(to be continued...)
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