Sources close to God reported Thursday that the Creator of the Universe and Author of Our Eternal Salvation suffered a crippling bout of existential dread this week, lying awake all night as He pondered His own immortality. Anxiously drumming His fingers, the all-powerful being was reportedly unable to sleep as His mind raced with thoughts of the unfathomable nature of eternity, the relentless expansion of space and time, and His own never-ending existence.
I'm still an amateur at Photoshop. I can do quite a few things, but nothing like what you'll see in the work of Erik Johansson. Check out these highly imaginative images. Here's a video of Johannson explaining his thought process. And check out this additional innovative project by Johannson - A chance to simulate looking down from the top of a building.
Atheism has been called "the last taboo" by the author of this article at Politico. Well, that's exaggerated, because someday we're going to have people that want to marry dead people or have sex with their siblings--people are quite innovative. Nonetheless, this article is well written and does make the important point in these United States of Hypocrisy that many people won't vote for those who don't believe in God, regardless of whether they are good-hearted competent leaders. This, at a time when 80% of those who say that they believe in "God" don't actually believe in God. That's my own personal estimate based on the almost total lack of interest and knowledge of their own holy books and church history by most of the people who claim that religion is important.
Keith Williams (a fantastic dance teacher at Grand Center Arts Academy) highly recommended that I Google "Yoyo Ma" and "dancer." Now I see why.
Perhaps because life seems especially rich with meaning and change is in the air, I'm in an existential mood tonight. When that happens, I'm often reminded of the Star Trek notion of Kobayashi Maru. Here's the description from Wikipedia:
The Kobayashi Maru is a test in the fictional Star Trek universe. It is a Starfleet training exercise designed to test the character of cadets in the command track at Starfleet Academy. The Kobayashi Maru test was first depicted in the opening scene of the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and also appears in the 2009 film Star Trek. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Dr. McCoy referenced the test as an example of the no-win scenario that he and Captain Kirk were facing.[1] The test's name is occasionally used among Star Trek fans or those familiar with the series to describe a no-win scenario . . . The objective of the test is not for the cadet to outfight the opponent but rather to test the cadet's reaction to a no-win situation.Hmmm. No-win scenario? A test of character? Yes, each of us is part of a no-win scenario. We are each on a conveyor belt inexorably pulling us toward dusty death. Obviously, the "meaning" of life (to the extent that it makes sense to speak of "meaning of life") cannot be how to cheat the system, because there is no long term cheat. This is true, despite the efforts of many religious folks to conjure up afterlives. You "lose" even if you make a world-class contribution to your community or world such that people will talk about you for awhile after you die, maybe even for 100 years or more. You "lose" even if you have lots of offspring and they bear you grandchildren who will sometimes, decreasingly, mention your name. But eventually there won't be any people still living to talk about you. The conveyor belt will have dragged both you and your reputation to oblivion. That's the sad part: you are immortal, ephemeral. Many people suffer and struggle all the way to the end. Consider Shakespeare's words:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)Just as the end of the movie Titanic, we can choose to see life as a test. Perhaps one of the best ways to approach life is to see whether you have the will and the courage to exhibit honorable character even though you know that you are in a no-win scenario. Hence, the Kobayashi Maru approach to life.