Religion

First conceived several years ago, but not published until today.

I have long wrestled with questions such as: is there a higher power that is in charge? Was the universe created, or did it have no beginning? What came before, and who created the creator?

The most satisfying answer I have found is in Plato's "Timaeus" dialogue, in which a noted astronomer addresses a meeting of philosophers, incluing Socrates:

"Everything that becomes or is created must of necessity be created by some cause, for without a cause nothing can be created... Was the world always in existence and without beginning? or created, and had it a beginning? Created, I reply, being visible and tangible and having a body, and therefore sensible; and all sensible things are apprehended by opinion and sense and are in a process of creation and created. Now that which is created must, as we affirm, of necessity be created by a cause. But the father and maker of all this universe is past finding out."

Socrates liked Timaeus' point of view. So do I. Such a creator, if it existed, would be beyond our understanding, a unique being that our mortal minds cannot grasp or measure. I'm willing to concede the possibility of such a creator. But I'm not sure. Such a being (if there is one) would be beyond logic and reason and our very capability to comprehend. As Timaeus aptly notes, the nature of it is past finding out.

Nevertheless, if there was a creator, would it possess the qualities described in Christian scripture? For this I have no answer. It's not possible to apply reasoning to such an entity, if it does exist. It all comes down to what we believe, not necessarily what we deduce.

My view is that Jesus did exist. He must have been an extraordinary thinker and teacher. The sayings attributed to him have great merit.

It's likely he was a healer as well. Scholars note that The New Testament is full of stories of Jesus healing the sick.

But was he divine? Was he the Son of God who sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, as the Apostles' Creed tells us? Or was he a mortal with a great intellect? As Timaeus said, this is beyond knowing. But after long consideration, I tend to think that religion as we know it was created by humans. I see it as a path for living a virtuous life and running an orderly society, and for giving us comfort when life is difficult. And to give us hope that death is not the end.

Is there an afterlife? I return to Timaeus: that is beyond finding out. I don't rule out the possibility of reincarnation, as Hindus and Buddhists believe. In this life, the best we can do is to be tolerant and kind. Do good works. Maybe it will be looked upon favorably by a higher power, if there is such a thing. In the meantime, I try to live my life as best I can.

Sources:

The New Oxford Annotated Bible. New Revised Standard Edition with the Apocrypha. Oxford University Press. 1993.

The Holy Bible. Containing the Old and New Testaments. King James version 1611. American Bible Society.

Etz Hayim. Torah and Commentary. The Jewish Publication Society. 1999.

A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Karen Armstrong. Ballantine Books. 1993.

The Covid Diary

I just discovered this hitherto unpublished summary of my bout with Covid in 2023.

First Nine Days

Started feeling bad Nov. 22/23. Absent from Megan's Thanksgiving dinner.

Teleconference with Doximity Dr. Kucura Nov. 25

This is the sickest I've been in many years. Nasal congestion, sore throat, fever (as high as 104), body aches, cough (productive), no appetite, diarrhea. Rattling chest sounds (bronchitis?) during early stages. 

Exhaustion: slept most of day and through the night. 

Brain function: difficulty concentrating.  e.g. creating spreadsheet comparing yield spreads (10 yr vs. 2 year and 2 month) took much longer than it normally would. Interpreting results was equally difficult. Reading a novel, watching a movie or TV show seemed too much effort. But watched social media from outset.

Lost 12 pounds in first seven days; lived on fluids.  Eating even a few bites of solid food was as much as I could do, and then under protest.

Nancy: "I've never seen you this sick." Threatened to take me to the ER if I didn't start eating. 

Day 10

Today is first day I've felt hungry. Still very spaced out. Brain fogged. 

Day 11

First sip of coffee since this began. No alcohol during the entire period. 

Day 15 (Dec. 6)

Getting better. Cough is much less severe. This is more protracted than any cold I've ever experienced. Energy level still very low. Still sleeping more than usual in daytime.  Unable/unwilling to walk dogs or drive. Able to edit Wikipedia without too much effort. No alcohol since before Day 1 - remarkable.  Diarrhea mostly gone. Still waking in middle of the night with pyjamas/bedsheets damp with perspiration. No alcohol.

Day 17 (Dec. 7)

Diarrhea. sinus headache. No alcohol.

Day 18 (Dec. 8)

Last night was almost normal. Slept soundly, minimal coughing. Today: sinus headache. Still no alcohol since inception.

Day 20 (Dec. 13)

Diarrhea.

Day 21 (Dec. 14 )

Still have lingering symptoms: fatigue, cough, hoarseness. Dr. Floyd says this could last another week (4 weeks total). Weight: 207. 

Day 22 (Dec. 15)

Weight: 205. Still no alcohol since inception of covid.

The Adventures of Donald Trump

I may be the first person to conflate Donald Trump with H. Rider Haggard. 

This was born after browsing through the pages of Wikipedia (as I do every day). I found myself engrossed in an article about Haggard's 1886 novel "She: A History of Adventure." 

As any schoolboy of my generation knows, Haggard wrote his novel after a stint as a civil servant in Africa. His adventures included the expedition that established British control over the Boer republic in the Transvaal. Haggard himself raised the Union flag over the capital of Pretoria in May 1877. Later he declared: "It will be some years before people at home realize how great an act it has been, an act without parallel. I am very proud of having been connected with it. Twenty years hence it will be a great thing to have hoisted the Union Jack over the Transvaal for the first time." 

Haggard believed it was Britain's mission to conquer and hold in subjection, "not from thirst of conquest but for the sake of law, justice, and order."  To my jaded eye, his Transvall adventure bears a striking resemblance to Trump's recent exploits in Iran and Venezuela, his dreams of annexing Canada and Greenland, doing something to Cuba, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and God only knows what will follow. 

I wish it would all go away like a bad dream or a bout with diarrhea. But that's not likely to happen soon enough. 

N.B. Haggard's novel was recreated in the 1965 movie "She" starring Ursula Andress.