Saltwater and the Pitcher of Life
Michael Parks
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Life begets Life
359 million years ago, the sea which - until then - had harboured ALL complex life - bequeathed to the land: the first complex life. (1)
The first land animals to crawl out of the sea were our ancient ancestors. As crawling became walking, they evolved into dinosaurs, mammals and – finally: us.
Thus, not only did ALL LIFE start in the sea, it was from that same saline solution that OUR human journey began.
As the sea provided food and nourishment to our earliest of ancestors, it has also yielded to humanity that same food and nourishment over the short three-hundred millennia that modern humans have walked this Earth.
Water IS Life: Water BRINGS Life
As our forebears discovered agriculture around 10,000 years ago, they supplemented their diets with the cornucopia of protein, and Omega 3, constantly being produced and refreshed by the ever-bountiful sea. Consequently, it comes as little surprise that the man who had the biggest impact on humanity over the last 2000 years, found his closest friends – and disciples – fishing on the Sea of Galilee. (2)
Jesus was said to have performed miracles on this sea. He caught fish in numbers far beyond expectation. He walked on the surface of those very same waters. All of this taking place only a few hundred kilometres from the Red Sea, which Moses was said to have parted fifteen-hundred years' before: leading a small band of desperate, exiled followers, to the land of "milk and honey".
Since Jesus' time, the philosophy, morals and "rules for living" a “good”, civilized life, were captured in the best-selling book of all time, as he, and his followers, launched society 2.0 - in their great NEW religion.
Four centuries later, Mohammed: Peace be upon him; developed these ideas and created his own version of truth that has since become the second largest religion on this planet!
Is one religion right, and another wrong? Is one path faster than another?
Unlikely. I believe that ALL religions present paths to the same ABSOLUTE TRUTH that we all seek...
...whether we realize it, or not!
Shouldn’t we really ask: “How many paths must I walk before I reach the summit?”
The more paths you travel - and fewer dead-ends you walk down - the easier it is to find a path towards the top. To reach the top, may be a tall order for simple creatures, such as ourselves, but many humans have traversed that mountain; and many have come down with guidance for the masses.
In my opinion, no SINGLE religion, or philosophy, should have absolute authority on the best path to take. To do so, would be to ignore the differences between us. And, therefore, the reality that not all paths are near, accessible; or have ready, willing, and TRUTHFUL guides.
As for our guides: the giants of history: Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed.
In more recent times: Newton, Einstein, Neitsche, Spinoza, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, Marie Curie, among so many others, have followed in their wake.
Each of these men – and women – has lit their own torch; and shone a light on the path that THEY have found and charted. Arguably, this has been done so that others could follow in their wake, should they find the path laid before them: useful, appropriate, viable and/or applicable to their circumstances and time.
We must remember, and honour, these great people – many of whom were pilloried by their societies, and some of whom – like Jesus – made the ultimate sacrifice. We must learn THEIR lessons; and seek to understand the paths that THEY have illuminated FOR US.
Is one path better – or faster – than another?
Surely, this depends on what you already know, and how much more you must learn to traverse the paths open to you?
The more truths you already know, and the better your genetic good-fortune, the easier it is to travel some paths than others.
For example, athletics, may be a path that comes easy to some, but far more difficult to walk for others. This could be why we value Paralympic competitors so highly. The path for them is far more difficult than it would normally be for the “average person” – whatever that is! Yet, still they walk it! And challenge themselves, and others, with the aim of reaching a higher purpose or goal.
So, the particular path that suits YOU best, is likely to vary depending on the paths available to you, who you are as a person, and where you aim to go next in your life.
If God is Truth: have we have lost our way?
Most religions teach us that God IS Truth
In mathematics we would write this as: GOD = TRUTH
Reversing the equation, we get: TRUTH = GOD
Whether one is an Atheist seeking Truth e.g. by reading Spinoza, Kant et al; or a Christian reading the bible to find God: in theory, one should end up at the same place.
Therefore, a philosopher would find that there IS a God if he can get far enough in his truth-seeking to find that there IS a God.
A religious person would be able to understand the God of her scripture and know enough truths about the present to be able to apply it to the context of her environment.
To be able to apply God's Truth to one’s own context requires a person to be able to draw a straight line from God to her life, and back again from her life to God. Thus, seeking God should also bring you to Truth.
In short: at the summit of the mountain of Truth, one would find God. But, equally, at the summit of the mountain of God, one would find Truth – which is why the statement God IS Truth is so important!
It doesn't matter which path you follow. You should still end up at the same place – at the summit of either mountain one would find that God = Truth; or vice-versa: that Truth = God.
If there is no God - then by seeking Truths from scripture, politics, economics, social policy, philosophy etc. we will still have empowered ourselves because KNOWLEDGE (or TRUTH) = POWER.
Regardless of whether you believe in God, or not: it's all about TRUTH. Truths should be sought from a variety of sources - and especially scripture. This is because it is the teachings of the major religions that have formed the moral and ethical basis on which most of our modern societies have been built.
Do we ever get to Absolute Truth?
No. Because we are simple creatures evolved from even simpler creatures. For example, we cannot see ultra-violet light or infra-red. However, we know that they exist. There are many things that it will take millennia for us to see because of the fragility of the human condition, the frailty of our feeble minds, and the limitations of our perceptual abilities.
This is where God comes in…
We cannot see what we don't have the context to understand. Hypothetically, any God should have the knowledge, and ability, to understand concepts and ideas far beyond what our simple human minds are capable of. Further, such a God would know – and have access to – knowledge far beyond where we have reached in our collective consciousness and/or accumulated collective understanding.
What could Modern Science teach us about God?
The principle of Wave-Particle duality from the field of Quantum Physics may teach us a disturbing truth about God.
The “Double-slit experiment” has shown that when we shine light (photons) – or electrons – through two slits in a barrier, onto a screen behind, we find that they create what is called an “interference pattern” on the rear screen.
Image: source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit_experiment
The light particles behave as a wave as they travel from the light source, through the slits, and interfere with each other as they travel to the back screen.
This interference occurs because these particles travel in a wave and the collisions of an up- tick in a wave from one slit, are cancelled out by a down-tick from the wave coming from the other slit. At the points at which the waves don’t interfere, the light hits the rear screen. This creates “bars” on the screen with blank spaces in between – the blank spaces being caused by the interference of the two waves.
However, when particles are observed (or measured) as they pass through one of the two slits, we find that the particles no longer behave as a wave. Instead, they move in a straight line: and the interference pattern disappears.
See video for an excellent graphical representation of these concepts:
Therefore, without observation – measurement – light behaves as a wave. But, with observation, it behaves as a particle.
What is especially interesting, is that this remains true, even when we fire single photons through these slits one at a time. How can one particle seemingly travel through 2 slits at the same time – when there is no observation (measurement)?
There are theories, but no scientist has yet been able to conclusively explain this odd duality. The problem being: why does the wave-pattern collapse, and the light seemingly convert to a particle just because we measure which slit the light is travelling through?
What does any of this have to do with God?
If, what we see at the Quantum level, can be scaled-up to “our world”, is it possible that these same principles can be applied to the world around us?
A good example involves social systems which we model in Computer Science as part of the field of Complexity – the field which incorporates Chaos Theory. I have often applied this approach to the discipline of Project Management, as a way of initiating desired change through the act of observation.
In a social system, if an observation is taken of an action made by an individual, then, the world – or social system – in which that individual operates has changed: even if the observed person is unaware of the observation.
For example, if someone hears me lie to someone else, then the person observing that lie is likely to change their behaviour towards me, even if I did not notice the observation that they had made. Thus, when an observation is made within a system, even if the observed person is unaware, the system in which they exist has changed – because the people they interact with now behave differently than they would have, prior to the action being observed (the lie).
Thus: “the act of observation: changes the thing that is observed” – this is known as the observation principle in Quantum Physics.
Extending this same principle to God results in a very interesting proposition: Is God the part that disappears when we make an observation?
When we observe things within the natural world – the goal of empirical science – do we cause God to disappear every time we make an observation?
To return to the double-slit experiment:
If we observe light behaving as a wave before taking a measurement to determine which slit a particle travels through; and the wave collapsing to a particle after we begin measuring which slit the particle went through; is the difference between the two outcomes – i.e. the patterns on the back-screen – God’s influence?
Further, could God be like the wave in Quantum Physics? Would God disappear the moment that we observe Him; in the same way that the wave collapses when we take an observation at the slits?
If this is true, then we will NEVER be able to SEE – or observe – God!
Interestingly, when we turn to scripture, we find a “spookily” similar idea in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4 (is this a coincidence?):
Taking this one step further. Is it also possible that the more observations that empirical science makes – i.e. truths we learn – the more we, as a society, make God disappear?
It therefore behoves us to ask: as we travel down the path of empirical science, are we ignoring – or forcing – the disappearance of God from our society: with the potentially disastrous consequences that this could bring?
Further, are we losing the moral framework that the great guides of history like Jesus and Mohammed brought to us, and that have formed the very basis of civilized society that has brought us the brilliance – and utility – of modern science?
If God is “the wave”, are we missing that which is most important; and/or that which is most real in the natural world?
This is where belief comes in:
You can choose to follow that which you cannot see. That is a person’s choice.
However, if we can apply the laws of Quantum Physics to the realm of religion, one can never KNOW if they are right because God should disappear the moment that we devise a test to “discover” him.
Nevertheless, you might still be able to 'FEEL' something – an intuition, a feeling or your conscience – even if you cannot SEE that “higher power” in which you might believe.
How might a “higher power” be defined?
The Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, has 12 steps to “redemption’ – or recovery. For AA, one the first steps to recovery is to accept that there is a “Higher Power” than oneself.
For the AA community, this is not a request to choose a specific God, or religion, but to believe that there is something larger than oneself. Possibly someone – or something – on whom we can call for support and/or guidance.
“The big book” does not specify a particular religion. They are just as happy for the recovering alcoholic to seek solace in the Christian God, as they are for them to believe in Gaia or Buddhism.
As an aside, Stephen King also discusses significant aspects of the AA philosophy in his Dark Tower series – how I was first introduced to this fascinating philosophy.
So, to “find God”, may not require anyone to follow a particular religion or philosophy. Indeed, it may be as simple as believing that there is a “higher power”.
Arguably, it should be possible to “test” the effectiveness of this approach by choosing the “higher power” – or path – that most closely aligns to our particular needs, view of the world, or philosophy. Once one has chosen a higher power, one can then ask them for guidance, and support, to meet some higher purpose or goal.
It is unlikely that any “higher power’ worth-their-salt, would think that a request for more money, is a request worth supporting – or even acknowledging. So, one might hope that any “test” of this approach would be to achieve some higher purpose that would benefit others. It is selflessness and sacrifice that should bring us closer to God, not greed and/or the acquisition of wealth and power.
What is God?
If God is like the wave in Quantum Physics, disappearing as soon as He is observed, then we surely can never know who – or what – God is. Nevertheless, there are many books on scripture, spiritualism and the like, that we can read to seek our OWN TRUTH, on what God is – or may be.
As is recommended by the AA “Big Book”, my premise is that it doesn’t matter which God we choose. It just matters that we believe in a “higher power”. Further, we should do whatever we can, to learn as many truths as possible – regardless of whether these attach to a Higher Power or not.
Not only did our forebears find these books (scripture) important and useful, but they also used them to form the very foundation of the ”Great Societies” in which we now live.
Therefore, it is arguable that within the pages of these books, we will find something that is – at least – useful for us to understand the origins of our society, and on which the very laws of our society and our ethical framework are based.
Back to Truth…
Like the above discussion implies, there may be many paths that people can follow to seek Truth, and/or God.
If God IS Truth, then when you turn from Truth: you TURN FROM GOD.
President Trump lies and misleads - the greatest mis-leader of our time. The bible tells us that Satan is the Great Deceiver. Trump has chosen to follow the devil’s path – as laid out in the bible – of deception. Those who follow him follow lies and untruths, all wrapped up in a thinly-veiled comfort-blanket of bigotry and hate.
Not only has Donald Trump lost his way, but those who follow him, have also lost their way.
What should concern these people, is that if things go wrong – which seems increasingly likely given the storms, droughts, earthquakes, volcanoes, water scarcity, ethnic-cleansing, war and climate change we've all been seeing lately – then how can one ask God to Save them, if they have turned their back on Truth and – by implication – God?
His “followers” have been mis-led.
Those who have lived a “moral life” – as argued in scripture – will not be shaken by an argument that God exists – in whatever form: especially when it could be supported by what we see in empirical science – Quantum Physics.
However, those who have sinned because they do not believe they need to fear God, will be terrified – or angry – at the suggestion that God may exist – especially when the “weirdness” we see in Quantum Physics can be used to argue for the existence of God. And, further, that the only reason that we cannot see God, is that we are NOT ALLOWED to see God.
Those who have sinned, are likely to FIGHT “tooth-and-nail” to prevent such a view becoming accepted science – and/or religion.
They would be terrified by the potential consequences of their actions. Further, the need to accept, come-to-terms with, and subsequently repent their sins before others – and God – may also be a notion that they feel is so objectionable that they would rather sacrifice their own lives than own up to the pain and suffering they have brought to bear on their fellow human-beings.
Here we return to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4:
It is my belief that there is a path to redemption for these people. Michael Cohen’s recent public testimony before Congress is an excellent example of the redemption – and penance – available to those who choose the path of Truth – whether they do so in the name of God, or not.
People cannot be forced to repent, accept God, or open their hearts, and minds, to Truth. It will be their choice!
If there is any validity to the theory that I have proposed, they run the risk that they sacrifice not only their mortal soul in the eyes of their brethren – humanity – but also their eternal soul in the eyes of the “Higher Power” that I have posited here.
For those who refuse to accept Truth and/or God (one and the same as I have argued here) there is a warning from the Christian text that could haunt them through to eternity. I return here to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4:
The “age”, as quoted above, is the age of Pisces. Jesus came to this world at the start of the age of Pisces. It is for this reason that many of the earliest Christians used the symbol of ichthus – the fish – as their representative symbol – which the Christians of our time still use today.
As we progress into the early part of the 21st century, almost 2000 years since the death of Christ, we are moving into the new age of Aquarius. Is it possible that as the age referred to in 2 Corinthians draws to an end, and we move into the new age of Aquarius, those who have veiled themselves from the scriptures on which our society has been based for millennia, are in danger of perishing as they refuse to accept Truth and, by implication: God?
The Pitcher of Life
According to Wikipedia (3), the earliest mention of a pitcher in literature was in the Old Testament/Tora where Abraham sent his servant – with ten camels – from Canaan to his homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac.
His servant prayed to God to ask for success on behalf of his Master: Abraham. The servant asked God to show him a sign by sending him a good woman who would show his Master kindness by not just looking after him, when he asked for water, but also his camels.
Rebekah, who had just filled her pitcher from the well, gave the servant water when asked, and then watered the camels without request from the servant.
I like to think that the moral lesson here, is that not only should good people do things for others in need, but that they should also extend that good-will beyond humanity to the few animals on this Earth that we have been able to domesticate.
Bringing this back to the Present:
Let us contrast this story of Rebekah’s goodness and kindness, with the most recent example, of a pitcher of water, from a story that was published by CNN just yesterday.(4)
Four women had left food – and a pitcher of water – in the Arizona desert to prevent immigrants dying from dehydration and starvation as they made the treacherous journey across the desert from Mexico. These women were prosecuted (persecuted?) by the United States Department of Justice. In Tucson Arizona, they have just been sentenced to probation – and fined – for entering a national wildlife refuge without a permit.
For giving water so that strangers may live?
If people who try to save the lives of others are now seen as common criminals, what has our society come to?
Losing our way…
These attitudes are not just an American problem. They have caused immense damage in the UK as they bubbled up, before and after the Brexit. We have seen them here, in Australia, with the rise of One Nation, and the inhumane treatment of migrants on Nauru and Manus Island.
Anyone who thinks ANY of this is OK: really needs to learn the lessons of history!
And, finally…
To summarize, we have looked at how the great religions have formed the very basis – and ethical framework inherent in our Great Societies.
We have looked at how modern science has usurped the traditional “stomping ground” of religion, as empirical science has provided ever more answers to the “big questions” that were traditionally the purview of the local priest, Rabbi or Imam.
This focus on science, at the expense of religion, in our modern societies, has encouraged an increasingly pervasive view that we no longer need religion for our societies to function effectively.
However, this has led to a moral vacuum which, in my opinion, has begun to have serious consequences for our society as people have moved from morality to mammon – rejecting the teachings of our Great Guides – as they focus on efficiency: to the detriment of their moral identity.
Finally, this article has also considered the possibility that even modern science – through the “spookiness” of Quantum physics, may even be used to explain why we may never be able to see God. But how, nevertheless, he might still exist.
Hopefully, this article may go some small way to helping those who have felt lost in recent times. Find their way back to Truth and – if appropriate – God.
Jesus said: "Water is life."
Maybe there is more Truth to this than we could ever have imagined...
? Michael Parks 2019
Edited by Merise Bickley
3/3/2019
References and Notes:
1. https://www.seeker.com/first-land-animals-shuffled-like-seals-1766369140.html
2. Note: The “Sea” of Galilee is a fresh-water lake – please forgive the artistic license here.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher_(container)