Contributed by guest blogger, Patti Faulkner It's easy to get caught up in issues and pulled into the political fray. When others don't share our views, it’s tempting to try to persuade them to “see the light.” As a Canadian, I've been watching with interest, sometimes amusement, and even bewilderment, the U.S. presidential campaign. Though it impacts me less than Americans, I'm still concerned about the outcome, so I know how I would vote. And, it came as a surprise to learn recently that friends for whom I have a great deal of respect and with whom I share many values, will be voting for an opponent. I said nothing, but secretly wondered how they could do that. Seriously, had they not been reading the same stories I was? It turns out, maybe not. I recently read an article that illustrated that often we don't read news stories that challenge our viewpoints, but rather ones that bolster them. And I've realized with dismay that sometimes when I'm listening to someone with an opposing view, rather than really listening and trying to understand them, I’m formulating arguments in my mind about why they're wrong. Is this the right way to treat others? Jesus’ guidance on this is pretty clear: “as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31). Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science, included a favorite article “Taking Offense” in her collection of articles in Miscellaneous Writings. It offers this advice: “We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; … Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 224).
When Justice Antonin Scalia passed on earlier this year, I was touched by sentiments shared in
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s tribute: “We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation. Justice Scalia nailed all the weak spots—the 'applesauce' and 'argle bargle'—and gave me just what I needed to strengthen the majority opinion.” From her tribute, it was evident that they frequently disagreed, and yet, they remained close friends, obviously sharing a mutual respect. Justice Scalia was quoted as saying, “If you can't disagree ardently with your colleagues about some issues of law and yet personally still be friends, get another job, for Pete’s sake.” (The Christian Science Monitor, February 14, 2016). As this election campaign heats up, I’m trying to remember that there are many different viewpoints, and to appreciate those who hold them. A recent post on Facebook pictured two people looking at a number from two different angles. One said, “Six,” the other, “Nine.” It was captioned, “Just because you are right does not mean I am wrong. You just haven't seen life from my side.” My friends voting for “the opponent?” As far as I know, they still are. That's not my concern, they're still my friends. Here’s to seeing life from both sides! Patti Faulkner is a spiritual thinker, Bible student, and borderline crazy cat lady, who lives just north of the border. She's hoping that regardless of the election outcome Canada-U.S. relations remain friendly.
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Contributed by guest blogger, Chelsea Dutenhoffer With more than half a million views in just 48 hours, a viral video titled “Is life a video game?” has been making a lot of people take to social media recently to question what true reality is. The video is a clip from an interview with entrepreneur, Elon Musk, at Recode's Code Conference 2016, where a questioner from the audience asks Musk to weigh in on the idea that the world we're living in might really be nothing more than a computer simulation run by some non-human entity. Earlier in the interview Musk had discussed his concerns about advancements in artificial intelligence having the potential to create computers that are more intelligent than humans, and how that could spell disaster for the human race if we're not careful. For those unfamiliar with him, Musk is the founder and CEO of both the aerospace company SpaceX and electric car company Tesla Motors, as well as co-chair of the non-profit artificial intelligence research company OpenAI. Known for making the seemingly impossible happen at his companies and also for candidly discussing mind-bending topics in interviews or via his Twitter account @elonmusk, Musk has earned himself quite a following among nerdy millennials such as myself. The gist of Musk's response to the “Is reality just a simulation?” question is that he's thought about this idea a lot and has come to the conclusion that there is a “one in billions” probability that we're living in “base reality.” Basically, the world around us is very likely not as real as our physical senses suggest. To clarify his explanation at the conference Musk later tweeted a link to an article by David Roberts titled “Elon Musk thinks we all live in a video game. So what if we do?” Musk's endorsement of the article reads simply “Exactly.” In the article Roberts explains that if the five physical senses are all you have to base your view of reality on, and something were intelligent enough to mislead all five of your senses in the same way at the same time, you'd have no way of knowing you were being deceived. With the physical senses as your only source of information, you have no way to test what those senses tell you against an unbiased source. In her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy states that “Matter cannot connect mortals with the true origin and facts of being, in which all must end” (p.491). This statement is similar to the statements made by Musk and Roberts; the mortal view of ourselves that we gain by listening to the claims of the five physical, material, senses does not show our true reality. Eddy goes a bit further, though, stating that “all must end” with the true facts of being. We can't settle for the illusion. So what is true reality, and how do we get to that end? Roberts ultimately states that the answer to the question “what is true reality?” isn't important because that's not our view of things right now. He says that what really matters is whatever seems real to us in our current view, even if that's probably an illusion. But, what if by understanding even a little glimpse of true reality and bringing our view more in line with that understanding, we could begin to move beyond this illusion and improve our experience today? This is where Eddy's views further diverge from those of Roberts and Musk, because she explains how to reach the understanding of true reality. Eddy writes, "It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator” (Science and Health, p. 491). The illusion of the material senses cannot change true reality. By acknowledging that we ourselves as well as everyone and everything around us are all God's wholly spiritual and immortal creation, and therefore focusing less on the material or mortal sense of things, the illusion will become less real to us. As this illusion fades, we will perceive more and more clearly the true reality: the perfection of God's purely spiritual creation. While some recently have theorized that the mortal existence is really a simulation or video game, Eddy describes it as a dream. She says “it is like the dream we have in sleep, in which every one recognizes his condition to be wholly a state of mind” (Science and Health, p. 188). Just as we can wake up from a dream, we can also awake to see the goodness of true reality constantly surrounding us. Chelsea has a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle, and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from USC. She currently works at Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech in Pasadena. From sense to Soul my pathway lies before me,
From mist and shadow into Truth’s clear day; The dawn of all things real is breaking o’er me, My heart is singing: I have found the way. I reach Mind’s open door, and at its portal I know that where I stand is holy ground; I feel the calm and joy of things immortal, The loveliness of Love is all around. The way leads upward and its goal draws nearer, Thought soars enraptured, fetterless and free; The vision infinite to me grows clearer, I touch the fringes of eternity. Christian Science Hymnal, hymn 64 Words by Violet Hay Contributed by guest blogger, Chelsea Dutenhoffer Last week two professors from Caltech, Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, published research stating that they've found evidence of a new planet in our solar system. This new "Planet Nine" hasn't actually been observed through a telescope yet, but its existence has been mathematically inferred based on gravitational effects on other objects that have been seen. Planet Nine is probably 2-4 times the size of the Earth and orbits the Sun at a distance of 200-350 Astronomical Units (AU). One AU is defined as the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or about 93,000,000 miles. This planet is so far from the Sun that one year there would be the equivalent of 10,000 to 20,000 Earth years! Maybe when you heard about Planet Nine, your first reaction was like that of my mother: "It's so weird to think there's something revolving around the Sun that we haven’t known about before. It boggles my mind!" We like to think of ourselves as humans living in a modern scientific age where we've got things all figured out. So, a big new discovery like this, one that changes what we all believed to be true, understandably confounds some people. But to me, this is such a relief, and actually pretty cool! We make predictions about the future based upon our own understanding of things. These predictions range from average daily worries to disaster scenarios usually hyped up in the media. For me, a major discovery like a new planet highlights that the human mind starts from an incomplete, limited picture of things. There haven't been any new planets discovered since Neptune in 1846. As recently as 2006 Brown himself has been quoted as saying things like, "That's it. That's the end of planets. We get eight in this solar system and that will have to be enough" (www.findplanetnine.com). Then, all of a sudden, we're told that the number of planets we've known about for the last 170 years was wrong? What other supposed facts have we been allowing to limit us, and how do we know those are true? There's always room for divine Mind, God, to be in control of every detail of His creation. What's more comforting than that? There have been many claims over the years of a new planet, but none have been substantiated. Batygin and Brown originally set out to disprove a paper from 2014 that predicted a new planet. After many discussions and computer simulations, they actually ended up providing the most compelling evidence yet that such a planet does exist. They proved true exactly what they had set out to prove false! This shows that when we set aside our personal biases and open ourselves up to the completeness that the divine Mind is constantly revealing to us, we can't help but to see the truth. In the video posted above Batygin says, "History shows us that it's a bad idea to consistently say, we have now reached the end of the solar system and there's nothing beyond what we already know." That's really the takeaway for me—that we should be aware of the limited nature of human perception and always be open to divine inspiration, which continues to reveal the infinite. Chelsea has a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle, and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from USC. She currently works at Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech in Pasadena. And while we're looking out into space. Here's some interesting information on the next giant space telescope!
More thoughts on throwing out limited thinking: The Bible: Proverbs 3 Psalm 147 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: Preface p. vii p. 312 p. 258 p. 125 |
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Inspiration is all around us. It makes us feel like we've climbed a majestic mountaintop. Enjoy the view! |