I sat in a wheelchair, alone in the middle of a shop this week whilst my wife shopped. Operation imminent, wheelchair borrowed. A strange, lonely experience until a middle aged man deliberately came over and talked to me. A sociable thing to do from an aware, affable individual. If he did nothing else that day , no matter, his action towards me was positive, meaningful, deliberate. I must have spent too long this summer just sitting, brooding, because, by heck, it didn't half set me thinking.
Some more 'What are we here for; what's it all about moments.' ( Those of a religious 'bent', please forgive me, but it's not for me. Lovely idea, this afterlife thing, but too many aspects that don't make sense to me. For instance, Saturday you die, Sunday you're sitting alongside God. (Who?) And, is my mum, died in 1953, still my mum? Is she still forty seven. And will I be able to ask Roman soldiers questions. (I was always interested in Roman soldiers at school.) And so on and so on and so on. Please, no more deep questions concerning 'The Meaning of Life'. Instead, lets just 'muse' for a while on life. (What a lovely word is 'muse.)
This week 'they' reckon there will be 7 billion people on earth. 'They' reckon also from the beginning of time there has been 108 billion humans over the past 50 millenium. All beyond me but I was never any good at maths!
Saw some programme or other on Monaco, noticed some very, very rich people sitting on boats. Some of them will never work in their lives and will never have to. What is the purpose of their lives. Indeed, does life, any life have to have a purpose? A man I know does a mundane job and hates every minute; he has only twenty or so years to go. Another man I know has an equally boring job but doesn't mind doing it. Is that ok; are both men wasting their lives on earth?
Who is the very cleverest man (or Woman) in the world. Do they sit and ponder (another nice word, ponder) I wonder.
All brought on by my imminent operation. Time marches on, we are all born, we live and we die. Role on Christmas, and, as Arthur English used to say, 'Play the music, open the cage.'
10 comments:
Oh Ken, you know what, you should get down the pub for an evening with your mates. Sometimes too much thinking can be bad for you. Other than that, good luck with the op, get well soon, and never fear: your Mum will ALWAYS be your Mum, no matter what age you are, no matter if she is no longer in the land of the living. I am 56 now, and see my own Mum every time I look in the mirror! Comforting...
My old Gran (daft old bat!) used to say "Show me a millionaire, and I'll show you a criminal".
As a wee lad I thought that she was well on the way to the big mental institute in the sky.
Thinking back now, and realising that she was a devout Quaker, I know what she meant.
For someone to be so rich and not take care of people less fortunate than themselves is a crime, especially when they have acquired their wealth immorally.
I like that middle-aged man who talked to you... they are few and far between. I do my best to be a good person but some disabled people don't encourage friendliness. In fairness, most do, but there are some who shun it. I question the reason; is it because they don't want to communicate with people or because they are embarrassed? Or maybe they have simply withdrawn into their shell.
Trying not to go deep, Ken, but I think part of your problem with the afterlife is the same as John Calvin's: Not being able to accept that a Creator that created time and space exists apart from time and space, and the implications thereof.
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Ken, Jesus loves you really, and God will make sure that you go to the right place when you die.
You will be so busy shaking hands with all your old friends that you wont notice how hot it is!
Hi Ken,
About time we 'met' again and I was most interested to read your post.
We can never know exactly why any of us are here but having just listened to some Creation versus Evolution CDs I am convinced from a number of angles that it is scientifically impossible for us to arrive here by accident or natural selection and that evolution is a flawed theory. So I am convinced there is a much higher purpose for our existence, every one of us, and it does not all finish for us when the lights of our earthly lives go out. We live here in just a small and extremely limited fragment of creation. I strongly believe one day we shall all dwell in a much bigger picture outside time and space where time is an irrelevance and where all your questions will be answered and our lives here will seem absolutely insignificant compared with that backdrop.
I would be happy to send a memory stick of these studies to you if you email me at eddiebluelights@gmail.com
Everything is governed by the love of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit and the creation of God. Ken, you are greatly loved by all three and all they ask of you is to open your heart to let them in.
There, enough of evangelizing for today but it gives me great hope as you may see from my latest post concerning my dearly departed wife and my own personal hopes through the eye of faith for our future.
Something to listen to before and after your op. Did not know about the op, Ken - hope it is not too serious.
Loved some of the facts and figures you quote - interesting as always.
Best wishes, Ken ~ Eddie
I'm quite firmly convinced that our purpose here is to make others feel better. You can test this theory. If you're feeling down, do something kind for someone else. Any small act of kindness will immediately make you feel good. It's quite a wonderful thing!
Some times Ken you are one step a head of me. This past week I lost two people I love. One my age one my fathers age. Got me thinking about life/ death and what it means. And if there is a god why would he let someone like me in??? Now I don't want to dwell on the negative or the positive that life brings... But I came to a conclusion for just my self... Life is a game of chance, I have rolled the dice and got snake eyes. And I have rolled them dice and came up with the seven. And for me it was not about winning but more about coming to grips with the chance I took...
Oh and PS. This week I received a thank you letter from a niece who I sent a birthday gift to... So maybe just maybe writing is not going to be a dead art form.
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