Self-Centred Aspirations

 Within our self-centred aspirations, we tend to marvel at the progress of human civilisation, and we have taken its evolution for granted. For most of us, the past has not been experienced and is legendary. Still, the truth is that steam revolutionised our destiny in a more meaningful way than anything that has followed. In Britain, it was not until the Industrial Revolution that steam enabled the growth and automation of industry formally powered by water, wind or horse. 

The Industrial Revolution, beginning in Britain in the 18th century, facilitated a change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by the enterprise industry. Steam-driven trains and ships provided the means to populate the world. No longer were industries limited by the availability of water and wind.

We have never had it so good. With all the talk in the media of self-induced devastation of our planet, is it possible that we are about to return to an agrarian way of life, cultivating the soil by hand and caring for one another? We cannot continue dredging the sea for food, drinking polluted water and draining the soil of essential nutrients. 

We need to return to regular church attendance if ever possible. There we must meet and learn about each other to recognise the needs or reasons to support one another. There is nothing more dangerous and desperate than despondent people.

Richard Dawkins, the atheist, preaches cause and effect or rationality to replace religion. That argument is ineffective without a core pursuit and for everyone to have a unified objective. 

Whether we accept the concept of God or not, God is an integral part of our inherited instincts and in our genes. My mother had a card that lingered about our house for most of my life. It depicted Christ knocking at a door, and we had the choice of acceptance. Nevertheless, whether or not we accept the sentiment, the influence remains. 

We can deny that God is within, whether active or not, but we are an incomplete human by lacking that gene and made in the image of God. Even our pet dog has retained its gene to be possessive of a bone. The dog's genes distinguish the fact that it is a dog.

I'm Feeling Very Guilty

A long early morning walk has left me feeling rather worn out and in need of a rest.  The weather, today is uncomfortably warm. It was a good decision for me to take an early exercise walk before the sun gained too much energy. Upon return, not feeling too energetic I decided to retire to the bed in my spare room. It was still early in the day and hardly a time for such luxuries. 

The sun was shining strongly on the window ledge and the breeze entering through the open window was pleasantly warm. Lying on the bed with my eyes closed and listening to my favourite collection of classical music, I was mentally conveyed into another world. I had recently purchased a Sony WH-XB900N set of headphones. It had not been my intention to buy such an expensive set for as far as I was concerned, I was not much of a  connoisseur of sound.

Here I was lying on my spare bed listening to my favourite music. I was utterly transformed by the clarity of the sound and the ambience of the occasion.  It was as though I was right in the midst of the orchestra or next to the musician. As I lay there with my eyes closed and caressed by the gentle warm breeze that entered through the open window, I could have been in any famous location. I could have been in any great concert hall in Rome surrounded by great gilded works of art or reclining on a beach on the Mediterranean coastline.

Indigenous Garden

While on one of my many many walks, I paused to admire a roadside garden. There was a notice on the fence advising those passing by that the garden was intended for indigenous flowering plants. I noted that there was a complete absence of bees and other insects, it left me with a strange feeling of fear and foreboding. It was a very quiet afternoon, no bird sounds, it was as if I was in another world and nothing was real. 

I have been around for a long time and when I was young there were many and diverse insects. It is both sad and alarming that younger folk today, who have not enjoyed my experiences would be unaware and indifferent. 

While lingering at the site, I was joined by a stately and elderly gentleman who informed me that a lady, now dead. had created the garden to attract bees and other insects. I pointed out the total absence of bees and insects and suggested that it was a sign of the times. He seemed to take exception to my remark, turned on his heel, and strode off. Either that or he was shocked at the revelation.