Aged wisdom from One so young or Strikin Confusion into the Geezers!

     "I have been reading some of the things that MA and BB posts about religion and atheism including the post about how Bill Nye shouldn't debate the Creationism Man and I was thinking that maybe the problem isn't God VS Science, but maybe it is Creationism VS Evolution. People are always saying that believing in God is dumb because Creationism is "debunked" by Evolution. I think this kind of makes sense because a lot of the stuff in any Creation Story does sound kind of like people made up stories to explain what was happening kind of like the way a caveman would make up some story if he ever saw a light bulb come on. Early people didn't have the science to understand all of the things that were happening to them so they answered it the best they could. So Creationism and Evolution are dumb comparisons.
      Atheists keep saying that Science has proven that God doesn't exist, but that is not really true. Science has proven how things happened and even when they happened, but proving that the Universe was created a Zillion years ago by some particles getting really excited to be around each other doesn't prove that God isn't real. It just kind of proves that something went BANG a long time ago. Religious people could argue that Science hasn't proven that God doesn't exist, just that Scientists haven't looking in the right places yet.
    RSM calls me a Kid and I am not very old or very smart. I think if I understand it all right I am probably a Deist because I don't follow any religion. I love science especially space science and really really want to go there one day. I think that one day, Scientists are finally ask the right questions and when they find the answers to those questions, someone is going to be waiting for them."
     These words of wisdom came from my very young but incredibly wise friend who we have given the nickname  Ma©T.  Her innocent but impossibly insightful comment sparked yet another brilliant discussion/conversation among my Geezer friends.  One of them happens to be a devout Atheist (Sorry couldn't resist) and the other happens to be an Ordained Minister, so you can imagine some of the commentary that ensued.  As is the norm for my friends, the discussions were polite and friendly.  They were also entertaining and informative.
     I leave you with her words of wisdom with very little commentary.  I hope they inspire in you the same amazement and thoughts it did with us.

Circles of kindness and ROAKs

http://www.wimp.com/kindnessboomerang/

I have seen the above video link posted and reposted a dozen times and every time I watch the video, I just grin and feel better about myself and the world around me. Sure the video is a staged production done by at least semi-professional actors and actresses and does not show a scene in what most people would consider the real world. However, that little fact doesn't matter in the least because it is quite literally the thoughts and emotions behind the video that are important.

I have mentioned a E-Friend who played on the once excellent website, NeoPets with me and my wife who's main Avatar was known as Grannyweatherwax. She also went under the heading of ROAK which stood for Random Acts Of Kindness and once a month or so, she would randomly pick the names of other players and do some good deed for them. It might be helping them get an item they needed for a quest or buying them some really expensive (Neopoints not dollars) gift from the Neo Market. All she did was do her best to make other peoples' days a little bit brighter. When I asked her about, she told me that all you ever hear about are RAOV (or Random Acts Of Violence.) She said you hardly ever heard about the people who are kind to others. She told me that ROAK was her way of making sure people understood that there were good people out there.

Ever since that talk, I have really tried to my best to live up that idea. I really don't believe that doing something nice for some random person on the street will change the world or even be noticed by any number of people. However I do believe that one single random act of kindness may change Someone's world, even if it is only briefly. I also don't believe that every kind act you do will be returned to in some way other than feeling better about yourself, but as the video illustrates, it might just come back to you in ways you can never imagine.

As anyone who knows me will tell you (Oftentimes in very loud words) I am a bit of a jerk and a bunch of an Ass. I speak my mind and tell what I feel no matter who it might annoy or peeve off. I have made a career spanning 30 years of being “that Guy” who always stirs the hornets nest. I am the guy most “normal” people hate.

That being said, I have always been a firm believer that it is the small acts of kindness that cost us little that make the biggest differences. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to make a person's life a little bit better. You don't have to give everything you have to brighten one person's day. Maybe if we all did a few Random Acts Of Kindness, then there might be just a few less RAOVs. What could it hurt to find out? A few seconds of your time? A few pennies out of your pocket? A little sweat off your brow? Give it a try, you might be surprised.

Brew Long and Prosper

Ohh fly like an eagle...to the sea!

(Author's note: Some of my readers might take this blog as some sort of commentary about the “Nanny State System” that many people claim exists and is perpetuated in many nations wherein the Government assumes responsibility for all forms of peoples' lives to keep them in a form of perpetual slavery or at least serfdom. WAVES AT TC! But this little missive has nothing to do with any of those controversial subjects, it is just a thought I recently had concerning man and nature. Don't try and read too much into it, kay? Anyways, onward and downward!)

So I recently had a seasonal job working at a Mall Kiosk in Fairfax, VA. Our kiosk was situated directly in the center of the mall on the main floor. From the booth you could literally see 80% of the mall. For a people watcher like me it was an incredible opportunity to observe dozens of different cultures and beliefs all interacting with each other by the hundreds. I observed enough to keep me in blogs for months. However, one of the things that amazed and inspired me the most were dozens of little birds that apparently live inside the mall.

In the past I have observed very large stores and such that occasionally have one or two birds flitting around them that have made their way inside from open doors or loading docks. However the mall I was working at had dozens of birds of at least two different species happily living in the light fixtures, roof ledges and signage. I am no avid birder, but I am certain there were at least two different types of birds in at least two separate flocks. Judging from the wide differences in size I would suspect there were multiple generations living there which means this has been going on for years at the very least.

Now this got me pondering these birds and their existence. You would imagine that the first few birds that made it inside and never left missed the wide open skies and the freedom to fly where ever they wished. They probably enjoyed the easy and continuous food offerings left on the food court tables or in the trash cans, but sure they missed being outside? It is in their very nature to fly free and far.

Now fast forward several generations to a new group of birds who have never seen the open sky or been free to fly for dozens of miles whenever they wish. All they have known is the (admittedly vast) open areas of the mall. They have never felt rain or snow and they have never had to dig in the dirt for their dinner. All they have ever known is the constant climate controlled environment of the mall and the leftovers on tables and in trash cans.

If behaviorists are to believed, most animals have within them a sort of genetic or “racial memory” that gives them certain abilities on a instinctual level. So if that is true, on some level these new birds “remember” the way things should be. Like their parents and grandparent, they know they are meant to fly the open skies unobstructed by walls and windows. Of course they also remember freezing cold, nasty storms and desperately trying to find food.

So you have to wonder, if they actually “remember” it all? More importantly, If they do remember, DO THEY MISS IT? Do they long from wide open spaces filled with bad weather and spotty food supply or do they look back on the things their folks suffered through while munching on a stale pretzel in a comfy 70 degrees and chuckle to themselves. Do they wish to experience the worlds of their ancestors or just nod quietly to the tales of ice and cold worms while giving thanks to Horus that they were born in a more enlightened age?

Hey if you were looking for some deep insightful musing to tie this all together, then I will have to disappoint you. Just something that tracked through my mind at 9am while trying to sell pears and apples to people. Does kind of make you wonder exactly what determines being “free” though. Keep em flying folks!

Brew Long and Prosper