As I get older and more set into my routines I find that life loses a little bit of luster. New experiences become less frequent and the activities I’m used to become a little less enjoyable.
Then I look at my son and see how he is excited about pretty much everything. Everything is new to him and his curiosity is limitless. Couple that with Lapham’s Quarterly which current theme is Youth, I find this realization of mine is not unique and has occurred through time and cultures.
In fact, I’ve touched on this topic before in a post two years ago “Importance of an Open Mind” I realized that it is possible to see the world with “new eyes” and the magic and excitement will come rushing back. But, without practice it is easy to let the magic slip away and revert back into that mainstream current in which most adults find themselves: bored, going through the motions, sleepwalking.
This morning, I’m reminded that I do need to work on my own thought processes and bring back that magic. So, I took a walk in the garden and looked at some of the most beautiful flowers that have just started to bloom. It had been a while since I took time to really look at them and appreciate the beauty they bring to the garden. I also took time to see the flowers that rarely get much appreciation such as those yellow flowers that spring from my pumpkin plants and only last one day.
To really think about it a flower is a most extraordinary thing! It starts as a seed in the earth and under the right conditions begins to grow. This tiny plant pushes its way through the tough earth and over time becomes a beautiful, soft object, exploding with color and meticulous in design. The pumpkin flower graces us with a one day only show, it is best we pay attention! Then my thoughts to the nature of reality and I wonder about the intelligence/being that designed such a beautiful object. I’m like the child that never stops asking why. When one can deeply contemplate the nature of reality life the realization that life and our own consciousness in the most incredible, wondrous thing one has ever experienced! No longer would one need some particular stimuli to get high, once the miracle of being alive is realized and understood then simply existing should astound one with wonder and amazement.
I find that religion has robbed a vast amount of humanity of this wonder. Religion attempts to provide answers for existence and people puff up their chest and parrot these answers simply because it is what they have been told and what those around them also believe. Often the religious can and do become ecstatic when they deeply contemplate reality and the entirety of existence but they remain within the safety net of their respective beliefs.
It is much more incredible to contemplate this existence when one realizes that religion is simply a man made attempt to explain the explainable and that we do not know the answer. It only follows that any theory or belief could be just as probable as any other. To put more ‘faith’ in one answer over any other is nothing more than arrogance.
