God(dess)

I am looking around and find that if God actually produced humankind, she really screwed up. So maybe that means that God did not/could not have weighed in on humankind’s future.  What do I see here? Well, let’s take Arizona. The republican state legislature just allowed (insisted?) that the state should once again be guided by an abortion law passed in the 1860s. Think of that. The Civil War was still raging. There were no women in that Arizona voting body; in fact I think women could not yet even vote. So, men decided that women should never have an abortion, regardless of the consequences. Even if a woman had been raped and then became pregnant, she still had to continue the pregnancy.

So a God invented those men who decided that??? Really?

Oh, and then we have the Ukraine, where a man, Vlad the Impaler, has decided that he wants/needs to retain control over the territory we know as the Ukraine.  And he will kill as many Ukrainians (and Russians) as that takes to achieve. See, Vlad doesn’t really care about human life, so long as he gets what he wants. Some estimates assert that a half million people have either died or been seriously injured in Vlad’s War. So, God is in charge??? Hmmm, I think not.

Oh and then we have that other war, the Israeli-Hamas war, begun last October.  Estimates suggest that over 33,000 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children have been killed and over 1,100 Israeli’s have died. All this to???? Convince Israeli’s to move out of Palestine??? God??? Hmmm, I think not. It is likely that post-WW II Europeans caused this current mess, you know the one that has been going on there since about 1948. Yeah. Maybe if the Europeans, instead of allowing German Jews to take over a part of Palestine, had decided to separate, say 25% of Germany and given that to German Jews as the New State of Israel, this current mess would not be happening.  God, what have you done here??? Hmmm, God??? I think not.

Instead, it’s the result of humankind acting stupidly, as humankind almost always does.  Why such stupidity? Well, I have been alive since 1934. Since then we have had wars in Europe, called WW I, Europe again in 1939 called WW II, then Korea in 1950 something, then Vietnam in the 1960s, then remember all that fun in Afghanistan, India, the whole of the Middle East throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Even little places –remember that Irish thing, The Troubles they called it?  And then all those white people expanding their grip on territories owned by people of color in India, America, Australia, and Africa.  In fact, I am hard pressed to recall any substantial period of time since I came into existence where we have not had wars going on somewhere. Humans simply like killing people as their first approach to taking charge of some territory.  And God did that?? Hmmm, nope.

So, if God does not do these terminally stupid acts of killing, is it just the case that God was wildly reckless and invented a seriously flawed creature we know as Humans? Is that your theory about God? That she could be that careless in inventing such an awful creature as humans?  And, in believing that, you still choose to worship that God?  Really?

Oh, I know, God invented butterflies, and bees, and Birds and stuff, just not humans.  And so you pray so as to thank her for being kind enough to give us bees, et al.  But then, why do you always look upwards when someone dies, and then pray to God to allow that Dude into that place we invented called Heaven (or in say Trump’s case, Hell)?  Well, even though she did not actually invent humans, God still looks after them after they cease to be human and pass on into their actual godly life in Heaven.  Yeah, that’s nice, huh?

So, I am almost 90, well past my sell-by date, and now look forward to . . . what again?  Well, if I think there is no God(dess) and no actual place called Heaven, then whenever my time comes, what? I just cease to exist? And what does that mean? Nothing you say? Hmm, so my brain stops working at some point and then, I no longer know anything, including the fact that I no longer exist? Hmm, that sounds like fun, huh? Well, at least, I am unlikely to be sent directly to Hell, without passing Go. 

That’s nice.

And in the meantime, Humans, could you just try not killing so many other humans for a while? Now that would be nice, even if completely counter to Human psychology.

So, be nice for a change Humans. Stop killing.

Oh, and on that abortion thingie,  the God says to let a woman decide about her own health and her own body. Men, step aside please. It ain’t your decision.

Waiting for God

 Not too long ago, I noticed an Arts Advisory position posting in the City.  And I thought, “Huh, were I only, say, 65, I would almost definitely apply.” But, as it is, even though, at the moment, I still have all my marbles, no one would even consider me, given my advanced age of 87.   Anyone with a functioning brain automatically assumes that an 87 year old is simply too old, and could not be relied upon to carry out normal job duties, of any job really.  So, even “advisory” positions are out of reach, meaning essentially, that no one any longer wants my views/opinions on anything.

And I now understand that I am, almost literally, “Waiting for God”.  For those of you not given to watching British TV series, “Waiting for God” is the name of an olden comedic series about a bunch of elders living in an elder home—sort of glorified motel with meals, where no one does anything any longer, aside from chatting it up, and, oh yeah, then occasionally dying. They seem a happy enough lot, but a happy lot with nothing to do any longer with life.

And so, we move on awaiting that God thingie.

Now, we still wear masks when we venture out, as in shopping at a food store, but that’s about it. We still have no interest in acquiring familiarity with the COVID mess. See, we don’t think of masks or vaxxing as “freedom” issues, but more as “staying alive” issues. So, the dudes running around the beltway in DC in their semitrailer trucks seem a pointedly stupid lot to us. But we’re old, so what do we know?

Happily, Carol doesn’t need anyone’s permission to continue making her quilts for sick kids at the local Children’s hospital. She just got herself a new sewing machine, so she is back to quilting happily. See, she knows how to quilt and doesn’t need anyone’s permission.  So, she and her quilting BFFs just keep on doing their good work. Now, I used to act in the guise of a pseudo-artist. That is, every quarter, the local Arts Council would schedule an Art Walk and I would create and then enter my artsy pieces. It was fun pretending to be an artist. Here’s a couple of pieces I entered in one of those olden Art Walks. The first is an early sunrise at our daughter’s place in Virginia. They have nice sunrises. The second is a Buddhist priest at a temple in Kathmandu, praying while he is hiding from the Chinese who invaded his original home in Tibet lo those many moons ago.  See, I have a lot of pictures taken over the years, and I like showing them off. I know, I know, they don’t qualify as real art—no paint brushes involved.  Still those used to be great fun.

But then along came COVID and essentially shut down the old concept of Art Walks. See Art Walks used to involve indoor spaces (we had an old bank building no longer occupied as a bank). That was great space, but it was great indoor space, with lots of folks mixing together and chatting it up with the artisans who were selling their works. And I displayed my works. Once in a while, I actually sold a piece. But mostly, I just chatted with folks who always asked me how I produced the works on display. Whenever I got around to mentioning the stage at which I created the work in Photoshop, they would say, “oh you Photoshopped it” and then walk away. I finally got to the point where I invented something called the “Adobe Magic Wand”. And then when folks asked me how I did it, I would say, “Oh, I used my Adobe Magic Wand. See, you bring up a picture in Photoshop, wave the magic wand at it and the wand then creates the final artsy creation.”

So, I never really acquired the “Artiste” designation. Still, I had fun. But then along came the Pandemic and shut down all those sweet indoor gatherings.  Occasionally now, the Arts Council will sponsor what they call an Art Walk. But that is, they provide a space on the street in downtown Concord. You provide a table and a tent to house your art work. And if it doesn’t rain or snow and folks actually come by, you can still pretend to be an artist. But that is just beyond my discomfort tolerance level, so I have given up Art Walks. But that was my last vestige of community participation. Now, it’s all Facebook, all the time.  I can pretend to still be alive and participating by posting things.  And my “Friends” at least look at my postings, so, See, I am still here.

I was going to say something about Vlad the Impaler and his preoccupation with bombing hospitals and little sick children, but I think enough has been said. I guess we could say more about our local idiot-malenfant, Madison Cawthorn who announced his view that Mr. Zelinsky, the Prime Minister of Ukraine was a ”thug”, but how can I comment on someone that utterly stupid? Imagine, real humans actually voted for that idiot.  Made me wonder actually whether Cawthorn actually knows what the term “Thug” actually means. Probably not.

Well, I will leave my commentaries on Vlad to another time, perhaps after one of his BFFs assassinates him. Won’t that be fun?

Ta Ta.

 

Waiting for God, Still

One of our favorite British comedies is a show that was aired during the 1990s, called Waiting for God. It is a story of folks, some cantankerous, who reside in a senior living quarters, with separate living “apartments” and a shared dining room, where they are served whatever the facility chef has concocted for that day. All the residents are independent, but arguably no longer capable of living alone, either because of physical or financial limits.  But, because they are “independent” they are also an argumentative lot, often challenging the facility leadership and staff, and just as often challenging each other.

Occasionally, one of them leaves this Earth for that other place.  And that gives rise to the name of the show. Folks there don’t really do anything any longer, they just “hang out”, “Waiting for God”.  And, for most of them, there isn’t too much wrong with them, at least physically. But once they begin residing in the place, they more or less disconnect from this world.  Oh, occasionally, a relative will pop by and maybe take them for a drive, or just hang out with them for a while. But mostly, they hang out together, chatting it up over meals, or the occasional glass of wine in someone’s “apartment”.  And then, periodically, someone croaks, or heads off to that Netherlands.

And, with this pandemic, our lives have begun to acquire a bit of the flavor of that show.  We live alone. Mostly, we dine alone and then watch TV together. We go out infrequently, mainly to pick up something we have purchased online, at some local store.  And that is LIFE, while Waiting for God. Now, I suppose we are also becoming cranky, if not downright cantankerous.  Except that, we have no facility supervisors about whom we can complain. We are the main supervisors, so it’s like complaining about yourself.  And that just ain’t no fun.  And so, we complain about the Drumpf, or the other malenfants who pretend to be government servants.  And they provide daily/hourly motivation for complaints.  I keep wondering, God if you actually exist, why would you ever have created such a bunch of cretins to sit upon this earth, pretending to be humans? See, that is my problem with the whole “waiting for God” thing. People like Trump and his family of gangsters seems evidence enough that evolution actually rules, and that, if there is an actual God, she set evolution in motion and then walked away (assuming God “walks”).  Now, to be fair, she would likely be laughing a lot, having dumped the Trump cretin-crowd on us, however indirectly.

I understand that, as we are “waiting for God”, so actually is everyone else.  I mean, going to work at HSBC at 8 each morning, and pretending to “work” at money creation is really just a sophisticated form of “Let’s Pretend”.  And so, those folks build bigger money balloons, and then, just before they make them pop, they sell out, rake in some cash, and then go have a nice bottle of wine, while the suckers sit around crying at how much money they just lost. It’s a great game, as long as you’re not the one getting suckered.

Or maybe you go in at 8 each morning, and immediately begin laying bricks for a brand new building somewhere. Arguably, when such folks walk away at 5 or 6 that evening, they can actually feel accomplished, because they created something that did not exist before they arrived that morning.  I must confess that, while I did not go to work each morning aiming to screw some strangers out of their hard earned cash, neither did I lay bricks, or mow lawns. I also dealt in mind games, called planning and evaluation.

But, in any case, we are all, brainiacs and useful souls, arriving at that same game of awaiting the arrival of whatever God we favor.  We will depart this Earth for whatever comes next, most likely a void.  And it may well be best that we don’t all dwell on this coming departure all the time.  Best perhaps that we treat ourselves to a laugh now and again, maybe at something stupid the Drumpf has treated us to.  He is reliable in that regard.  Or maybe, we could try to do something kind to someone. That would be nice.

See, that’s what I have difficulty understanding. While we are all awaiting, why do some of us choose to act uncivilly towards other human beings? Whether it was actually God, or it was simply Evolution at work, we all really do seem to be made out of the same star stuff.  We all laugh, cry, feel good or feel bad at similar events. We like to be liked. But some of us imagine that, it we treat other folks who don’t look quite like us badly/harshly, even evilly, that other folks will like us even more.  The problem with that game is that for every person who thinks we are great because we treated someone unkindly, there are even more folks who think we are idiot-malenfants. And so we increase the possibility that our lives will be themselves less than pleasant. And so, maybe we should consider giving up this game of, “I’m better than you are”.

But that would imply that we humans are actually moral, or perhaps humane. And increasingly, I find less and less evidence of those traits. I sometimes wonder whether all those folks looking down on us from you know, up there, spend all their time yelling at us to stop being such idiots. Could it be that’s what all that thunder and lightning is?? 

Hmmm. Better think on that one. Later Alligator.