Did he pass to "a better place"? He didn't believe so. My mother believes that he does, but what the other place actually is, is not well defined.
During the days following his passing my sisters talked of him being there with us, and possibly now with his twin brother who passed away a couple of years ago.
These are nice sentiments in my opinion. Not based on reality.
Why? Well Dad was with us, in our hearts and minds. His spirit had expired and we were speaking to his lifeless body in ways that allowed us to move on.
The afterlife is our hearts and minds where are departed friends and family reside. And that is real.
I will miss having Dad around to share the days and years with and this brings sadness. However life doesn't give us options, just as we are born we have death to deal with.
27 February 2013
05 February 2013
The truth...
I like this theme (if it's ok to call it a theme...)
Everyone has a "truth", well a version of it. Two people witness the same scene yet describe different facts about it, and sometimes contradicting facts. So gaining a consensus on "the truth" is a difficult proposition.
However, I do like my previous posts concluding comment. Why? Well its concise. Issues when stated simply often create more clarity than when issues are described with too many words which lead to obscurity. My protagonist Matt suffers from this. He relishes topics that need to be explained in minute detail which in turns obscures the issue/topic and thus blurs it's relevance. I find when I read his posts that by the time I have entered the third paragraph I am having to hold many argument points "up in the air" as he carry's on towards his conclusion.
Mark Twain once wrote/stated: "I would have written less if I had longer" as a form of apology to someone he had corresponded with. A very cool sentiment.
Well - As I said, I like this theme and I think it's worth carrying on with it.....
Everyone has a "truth", well a version of it. Two people witness the same scene yet describe different facts about it, and sometimes contradicting facts. So gaining a consensus on "the truth" is a difficult proposition.
However, I do like my previous posts concluding comment. Why? Well its concise. Issues when stated simply often create more clarity than when issues are described with too many words which lead to obscurity. My protagonist Matt suffers from this. He relishes topics that need to be explained in minute detail which in turns obscures the issue/topic and thus blurs it's relevance. I find when I read his posts that by the time I have entered the third paragraph I am having to hold many argument points "up in the air" as he carry's on towards his conclusion.
Mark Twain once wrote/stated: "I would have written less if I had longer" as a form of apology to someone he had corresponded with. A very cool sentiment.
Well - As I said, I like this theme and I think it's worth carrying on with it.....
04 February 2013
The truth sets you free
My former accountant once said to me "The truth sets you free".
He was referring to a business matter that we were having trouble with. Anyway, he became my former accountant, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't tell him the truth as to why I sort accounting help with another firm/person.
Beyond that, I still think about that phrase, and nowadays how it applies to the religious amongst us.
The religious have a series of beliefs that for them are "the truth". Those of us who are atheists believe that the religious can only hold these beliefs if they abandon "reason". We (the atheists) find it amazing that the abandonment of reason places the religious in a position that they can not accept or are unwilling to accept a "truth" about a natural phenomenon. That the position of the Bible or Qur'an is deemed sufficient word on the matter and that no other truth is possible.
Now this seems to me like the mind is imprisoned in the beliefs of the religion that they hold. In other words, they are not free. Yes, they tell us otherwise. They say that there beliefs are "they way and the truth".
What do I believe? That we live in a natural world. There is no after-life, or any supernatural forces guiding us or the universe. We are not controlled and not responsible for our actions or thoughts to nobody but ourselves. That being "good" is part of our genes, part of how we exist as a species, and this is echoed in many other species. Being good is essential to survival as a group/community.
Our Purpose? To survive! How do we do that? By having children and allowing our genes to survive beyond our own finite existence.
Are there anomalies? Of course. Some in our species have no children, either by choice or by being incapable. Also some amongst us form relationships (while natural to them - same sex) are in themselves not going to allow their genes to be passed on.
There are also personalities that are destructive, and that appear to act in destabilizing humanity. We aren't good at rejecting these people. In other species these personalities usually meet with an unfortunate end.
The truth? Be good for it's own sake and build better communities for humanities sake and live this one life as best you can. This will set you free
He was referring to a business matter that we were having trouble with. Anyway, he became my former accountant, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't tell him the truth as to why I sort accounting help with another firm/person.
Beyond that, I still think about that phrase, and nowadays how it applies to the religious amongst us.
The religious have a series of beliefs that for them are "the truth". Those of us who are atheists believe that the religious can only hold these beliefs if they abandon "reason". We (the atheists) find it amazing that the abandonment of reason places the religious in a position that they can not accept or are unwilling to accept a "truth" about a natural phenomenon. That the position of the Bible or Qur'an is deemed sufficient word on the matter and that no other truth is possible.
Now this seems to me like the mind is imprisoned in the beliefs of the religion that they hold. In other words, they are not free. Yes, they tell us otherwise. They say that there beliefs are "they way and the truth".
What do I believe? That we live in a natural world. There is no after-life, or any supernatural forces guiding us or the universe. We are not controlled and not responsible for our actions or thoughts to nobody but ourselves. That being "good" is part of our genes, part of how we exist as a species, and this is echoed in many other species. Being good is essential to survival as a group/community.
Our Purpose? To survive! How do we do that? By having children and allowing our genes to survive beyond our own finite existence.
Are there anomalies? Of course. Some in our species have no children, either by choice or by being incapable. Also some amongst us form relationships (while natural to them - same sex) are in themselves not going to allow their genes to be passed on.
There are also personalities that are destructive, and that appear to act in destabilizing humanity. We aren't good at rejecting these people. In other species these personalities usually meet with an unfortunate end.
The truth? Be good for it's own sake and build better communities for humanities sake and live this one life as best you can. This will set you free
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)