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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Environment, Heredity & The Concept of Heaven.


Why are we the way we are?  How did we each get to be the people we are?

Science has long accepted that each of us is the product of our environment and our heredity.  One can argue whether environment or heredity plays the greater role in our development, but few if anyone would argue that one is exclusive over the other.  Most agree that we interact with our environment based on our heredity.

If we are smart enough, we can change or manipulate our environment to be successful in our endeavors and grow and thrive as individuals.  Consider a seven foot male who learns to play basketball, or a gifted female mathematician who becomes a brilliant physicist or successful computer programmer.  But what would a seven foot male do in a culture without basketball?  Or what would the mathematician do if she were born in the Middle Ages?  One can only imagine the frustration such an individual would feel by being born in the wrong place or in the wrong time.  As a case in point, what would Mozart have become if he were born into a world without a piano or even music?  What would he have been if he was born into a middle eastern culture where music was banned?

But did you pick your initial environment into which you were born?  Did you pick your parents?  Did you pick your socioeconomic class or the fact that you were male or female, and the country or time into which you were born?  The answer must be no.   

It has occurred to me that we control none of those things.  We didn't select our parents.  We didn't select our genes (our heredity), and we didn't select our environment, our place or year in which we were born.

So, I ask an unsettling question.  How is it that we can be held accountable for who and what we are?   In short, we can't help but be the person who we are.  Each of us is predestined to succeed or fail or die trying to do that which we feel we must as we interact with our environment.   We each do the best we can with who and what we are, and what resources and opportunities we have at our disposal.

This idea turns the concept of sin on its head, and in doing so eliminates the reward or punishment for having lived a good or bad life respectively.   Yes, society must protect itself from bad people who would murder, rape, rob, steal or do other terrible things, but the predestination argument kills most of the established world religions which would have us believe we will be rewarded in heaven or damned in hell for being the people we could not help but become.

What does this tell you about organized religions?  What are their motives?


What do YOU think?   Leave a comment!!!


R. Allan Worrell
Author:  Father John's Gift
Contact:  alw314@yahoo.com





Sunday, February 19, 2017

Would you take a Life Extension Pill?


If I offered you a pill that would make you live indefinitely, would you take it?

I used to ask this question to friends of mine, or sometimes to people I just met.  Why?  The answers I got were very revealing.

If the answer is that the world would become over populated if we extended life, then modern medicine is a moot point.  Why bother saving lives at all if we are all going to die eventually anyway?   Why not just accept death as a normal part of life and make room for the next person who was born today?   Of course, I am just being facetious.  My personal physician admitted to me he is just forestalling the inevitable, a fact I readily concede.   But I take his medication and his medical advice seriously.  Why?   Because I love my life!  And finally, I have to say the population argument does not hold water because we know how to prevent babies from being conceived.  We know how to use birth control, and each of us can help the world by limiting the number of people being born by taking precautions with our sexuality.

If the answer is that prolonging life is not God's plan and we should accept death so we can go to heaven to be with God for all eternity, then why not embrace death and kill ourselves now?  What is the point to living if it is for just a short time compared to eternity?   Again, I am being facetious and argumentative.  We each can and should do what we can to make the world a better place by having lived our lives as best we can. 

And I don't know about you, but there is so much I want to do before I die.  I love the concept of a "Bucket List" of things to see and do before we "kick the bucket" or "give up the ghost"!
What bothers me is that most bucket lists consist of places to travel or experiences like jumping out of an airplane, or eating exotic foods.  My bucket list consists of becoming more than I am.  For instance, I want to grow musically by learning to play improvisational jazz piano, and learn to speak Spanish fluently.

 And finally, what about those we love and care about?   We should do everything we can to help those we love develop into the people they want to be.   I get a kick out of sharing my life with others who are happy and having a blast doing what they do.

I hope you can see I would take that life extension pill in a heartbeat.   But that's just me. 

What about you?   What do YOU think?   Leave a comment!!!



R. Allan Worrell
Author:   Father John's Gift
Contact:  alw314@yahoo.com

Saturday, February 18, 2017

The "Theory" of Evolution

I am no longer amazed when I find otherwise intelligent adults who don't believe in evolution.  Why?
Because we call evolution, "a Theory".  The word, "theory" makes it seem like evolution is a guess, not a fact.   But nothing could be further from the truth.  We know evolution is real, not only from the fossil record of plants and animals buried in the ground all over the world, but also from current biological organisms alive and well today of which we are a part.


Yes, you got it right.  Like it or not we, as a species, are evolving!   A simple Google Search found a web site which lists five indications that we are still evolving!  These are:

  1. We have developed the ability to drink milk (process lactose).
  2. We are born without wisdom teeth. (They are vestigial and no longer necessary.)
  3. We are resisting new diseases.   (Malaria, Tuberculosis, Leprosy)
  4. We are born with smaller brains. (Our brains are more efficient!)
  5. We are born with blue eyes.   (A genetic paternity test.)

Check out the web site.  Here you will find an in depth explanations of all of the above.

We Are Still Evolving

Note:  I want to be clear about what evolution is.  We are not evolving as individuals.  Each of us fortunately or unfortunately, is stuck with the genes we are born with.  We can't change them.  We evolve only as the species homo-sapiens due to changing conditions in our environment.

Need More Proof?

If you need more proof, watch this documentary film on the subject. It is the best film on evolution I have ever seen!

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/facts-evolution/


What do YOU think?   Leave a comment!!!


R. Allan Worrell
Author:  Father John's Gift
Contact:  alw314@yahoo.com





Wading into the Cosmic Ocean.

In his book, Cosmos, Carl Sagan gave an excellent analogy of mankind's examination of the Cosmos.

“The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return, and we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”


Carl Sagan, Cosmos


We are only "ankle deep" in the cosmic ocean.  We have explored so very little and think we know so very much.  But we are only kindergartners learning the world with our eyes wide open and our childhood curiosity in tact.  

What do YOU think?   Leave a comment!!!

R. Allan Worrell 
Author:  Father John's Gift
Contact:  alw314@yahoo.com

 

Friday, February 17, 2017

Winston Churchhill on (the possibility of) Alien Life

Folks -

Paul Ricon, Science Editor for BBC News Website published an article describing Winston Churchill's lost manuscript in which he, Churchill, describes the possibility of life on other planets.  This is remarkable considering Churchill penned his paper in 1939 before WW II broke out.


Although Churchill's article cannot be made public at this time due to possible copyright issues, Mr. Ricon tells how Churchill was way ahead of his time from an astrological perspective.

We can only hope the copyright issues can be resolved and Churchill's paper can finally be made public.

Here is a link to the BBC website:

BBC Website


What do you think?   Leave a comment!

R. Allan Worrell
Author:  Father John's Gift
Contact:  alw314@yahoo.com