August use to be a month of sea and sand some years at Avalon, N.J and others at Myrtle Beach, SC. But recently the sea and sand have faded but it remains a month of celebration of our marriage, twenty-six years this month, and of birthdays. It seems hard to believe that our marriage has been that long since it seems “like only yesterday” we had the ceremony and celebration. But then the birthdays are in numbers we find difficult to believe too so time has a way of keeping us aware of our being here. In the case of the marriage that time has flown by thanks to a loving and caring June. These past few years I’ve managed to call on her nursing skills more than either of us wanted. This past month with a back injury she has once again been there helping and encouraging. She certainly has had abundance of that part of the marriage vow which says “. or worse”! She’s had a bundle of ‘worse’!
The month of pain and the possibility of heart surgery in the offing, have a way making one recall you are mortal. We really find it difficult as humans to be reminded that we are here only for a short time. Our fear of the hereafter is ingrown and natural. Only our faith which is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” makes it possible to think about it. That faith assures us that God and his kingdom exists. I heard an analogy in the form of a story I thought really touched on the issue. Suppose you were able to talk to a baby in the mother’s womb. As it neared the time of his or her delivery you would be telling them of the New World that awaited them and to be prepared. You probably would find the baby not to happy about the idea of leaving this warm and loving place to go somewhere he or she has no concept of. She or he would be fearful since it is unknown. So too it is with us. Our certitude of the world of hereafter is based on faith. But there is reason in it since we do not where we came from so it is not surprising we don’t ‘know’ where we are going. Scientists have tried for centuries to have us evolve from nothing and never have explained the existence in material terms our consciousness, memory, et al, all of which exist without material or physical explanation. I remember my brother Pat saying that to him death was like shutting the door to one room and opening and entering another. For some the belief also assures them that they’ll rejoin the loved ones who have preceded them there. This is just another side of our immortality we cannot really understand and must rely on faith.
I have all these thoughts and feelings because I have been in pain now for over a month and maybe facing heart surgery in a short time. Surgery of this nature at my age is understandably a high risk, making thoughts of my mortality more pertinent. My life has been full of love. The love of a caring wife, children, grandchildren and friends make it a happy one. They make my thoughts of mortality even more meaningful since it entails thoughts of leaving their love, even though I believe a greater love awaits me. It is still tough to do so!
Talking or writing about such things as beliefs in God or an after life in today’s culture is anathema. The more popular is bragging about your atheism. Our modern day philosophers see our human predicament today as our being “… alone among an accidental universe, ether without end, stars dying and being born in random, (an) ultimately purposeless process of following out the cosmic consequences of the Big Bang” (P.Quinn,”Looking for Jimmy”, p.184)
Everything is material and ends when its age or time runs out. But as we noted above “all” is not material since we have things like free will, memory, feelings, consciousness, etc. that don’t fit the materialistic pattern. I find such thoughts (which is non-material) ignoring the reality of the spirit within us…including the ability to put these thoughts into a sentence.
I see faith being exercised even by those who deny it exist. It is done in their faith in the physicians, pharmacist, etc. that treat them. It is there in the love of their spouse and children. It is there in the thought that the other driver will obey the rules of the road, and so on. They may call it something else but basically it is acting without assurance of the ‘facts’. It is acting in faith.
We began our anniversary day with a visit to a doctor! We did have a special dinner from Pepin’s the restaurant where we had June’s birthday celebration with many friends. We watched a movie as we ate our Anniversary Dinner. Certainly it was a modified celebration as compared to those in the past, but still a celebration!
I continue to read more of Peter Quinn’s writing. He sent me four copies of his novel, “Hour of the Cat” published in 2006. I sent one to Tom Baker as thanks for introducing me to Mr. Quinn’s writings and another to sister-in-law Eleanor a lover of books. It was a historical-detective novel. It takes place in New York and Berlin. The time is the late 30’s leading up to World War II. Some of the historical characters were Tom Dewey, Henry Kissinger, and Col. Donovan, leader of the ‘fightin’ 69th’ in WWI. A parallel story to the New York one is one of an admiral in the German navy fighting the impulse to revolt due to Hitler’s ideas on eugenics and the master race. The detective part is with Fintan Dunne a private eye and solving a murder mystery and finding the eugenics of Hitler and others being practiced in U.S. We agree heartily with the appraisal of James Patterson, “Peter Quinn has reinvented the historical detective novel. His timing is impeccable. Hour of the Cat just what we need right now: intelligent ironic, well-written suspense that makes us think” It is of interest to note of Darwin that he fostered as great ideals the eugenics of killing the unworthy to clean up the race. It is not a part of Darwin’s theories that you often read about or hear praised. So apparently ‘natural selection’, Darwin’s theory of man’s being, failed to eliminate those of lesser quality in the eyes of Hitler and Darwin.
We will end here this month since the future holds the possibility of our being away from this machine for some time. Pax Tecum!