My new normal

A new normal - for me. What is that and how is it arrived at? Things happen in life that we are generally unprepared for, that are, as the saying goes, “out of left field”. Is this “karma”? Is this just “happenstance”?

As always it is my attitude that colours or influences my response. People have asked me if I might not find “comfort” and “meaning” by joining a church. Now, having an enquiring mind I not only have the copies but I have actually read the Bible (more than once), translations of the Koran, the Hindu Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of Buddha. I therefore deem it unnecessary to attend a church. I can read and reflect on and interpret what I read. I can relate the wonderful messages contained in these various religious books to my life and my circumstances. Maybe I’m being presumptuous and somewhat hubristic but why should I listen to a stranger telling me how to live? That person wouldn’t know me and would know nothing of my life experience. 

While I am certainly not “religious” in the accepted sense - I do have my own beliefs and they satisfy me. I do draw on the strength that I derive from my reading and my beliefs. It seems that the “core message” from these different teachings is the old and seemingly universal belief that all people need to be treated equally – treat others the way you would like to be treated; that justice for all must prevail; that one’s dealings with others must always have moral underpinnings. And that Love for all beings is the guiding principle of life – or it should be.

One of the things that I have learned over the years is that it is often pointless looking for a reason why “things” happen. Certainly there are times when it is obvious that the principle (the Law?) of “cause and effect” applies but often it seems random events just happen.

And I see no point in blaming God. As I’ve written before, there is an old saying (possibly a Spanish proverb) that goes something like this, “Take what you want from Life,” says God. “Take it and pay.” Also a simpler version is, “you reap what you sow”. Honestly, why should God care what I do? Does He really look down on me and say, “Hey buddy! You had better watch your step!” Really? 

I also believe that His most ancient concern is for “order”. Just for order. His order. No more and no less. And we disturb that order at our peril.

So there is always a balance, or in scientific terms - homeostasis – “a dynamic state of equilibrium that is the condition of optimal functioning for an organism” – it’s a “fluid” state, never static.Homeostasis is brought about by a natural resistance to change in the optimal conditions – again, it’s a constant battle to regain the status quo.

 In this case it’s me and my homeostatic point!

Now in my situation I do struggle sometimes to accept my new “normal” without someone to share my life with. But I am coming to terms with this fact of life. It has taken me over three years and I’m still feeling my way. I don’t resist it, that would be pointless, but I’m not quite there yet. I have no idea where my homeostatic point is or even if I have one; or what I have to adjust to; or what I have to prepare for. It is definitely work in progress! Fortunately I have family and friends who are always there – or at least easily contactable.

It also helps that I have always been able to write about my thoughts and feeling. Getting it all on paper, as it were, enables me to rationalise, to reflect and to arrive at some sort of “homeostasis” in my mind. This can be confronting – I might write something and think, “Where did that come from?” The mind, or at least my mind, is very strange!!

One very important thing I’ve learned is that what has befallen me in my life has made me more understanding and empathetic to the trials and tribulations of others. And I think that is a good thing.

Otherwise, I wonder why are we here? And why us?

Dangers of a strict adherence to the “Word”.

My latest concern is about a strict even “religious”, adherence to the “word”- not what it means – the spirit or symbolism – but how the word appears in printed form. Such a narrow interpretation has led to much grief and misunderstanding in the World. Particularly now -today.

What are we supposed to believe? What people (politicians, business and religious leaders) say is not always what they do – their actions often belie their words. All leaders employ legions of media advisors or “spin doctors” – those skilled in semantics to change perceptions. A standout in this regard is the “morphing” of Torture (which is illegal and banned by the Geneva Convention) into Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (which is apparently legal – at least according to the CIA’s interpretation of the Geneva Convention).

Similarly, some followers in all religious faiths are guilty of focusing on the words (and often their interpretations of those words) to promote THEIR version of scriptures. Just look at the difference between the vast numbers of Christian belief “systems” – very strict Baptists and Catholics through to more tolerant Church of England(?). The Jews have a similar range of belief systems, as do the Buddhists. Similarly with Islam – Wahhabism (very strict narrow interpretation of the Koran) ranging through Sunni and Shia to the Sufi (some Muslims don’t believe that Sufi’s are Muslims at all). The tyrannous assemblage known as ISIS or Daesh are allegedly followers of Wahhabism – this profanity is so outside normal human conduct that it is difficult to understand what they “believe”.

But they claim to be followers and defenders of the WORD!

Another ploy greatly favoured and resorted to by politicians (particularly in Australia) when they are caught out spending taxpayers money on self-indulgence is, “I have done nothing wrong – what I did falls within parliamentary guidelines”. There is apparently no consideration of fairness or the moral aspect of their actions and ethics seems to be an unheard of concept.

It is written in the rules and regulations – the “word” is there for all to see!

Why Fundamentalism holds people back.

Any individual, group, society or culture that claims to be the sole protector of the “truth”, be that truth Scientific, Statistical, Christian, Muslim, Communist or whatever – holds a fundamentalist view. In fact anyone with a fixed belief, is Fundamentalist. Fundamentalism constrains human innovation; fundamentalists want to revert to what the purveyors of the ideology consider a “cleaner’ more “pure” past. Or in the case of science (and my pet aversion, statistics) if it can’t be “proved” it doesn’t exist, it can’t work or else it is a figment of someone’s overactive imagination.

Fundamentalist either forget or ignore the human spirit, which cannot be constrained. The human spirit (however defined) needs to be free to seek, to strive and to find, in its own way - and not everyone is the same or wants the same things. Anyone who tries to hold back the human spirit, or attempts to direct it into one particular path is doomed to ultimate failure. To prove this point just take a look at what is happening in the Middle East and the hundreds of thousands demonstrating against the practices of financial institutions in American cities and it other cities around the world.

The possible exception here, to returning to the past, is the Scientific Fundamentalist who believes totally in the power and purity of scientific exposition and innovation – and there have been some wonderful inventions and discoveries. But the Scientific True Believer, in whatever field of science, has an absolute conviction that scientific “knowledge” is the basis for everything including Life itself. This scientific evidence, it is often claimed, can be proved statistically; that Statistical “facts” trump all else; that scientific concepts which are supported by statistical “proof” must therefore be true, and anyone who does not see this or who voices any opposition, is worthy of nothing but contempt.

Just recall the years of ridicule and isolation suffered by two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall who in 1982 discovered that the main cause of stomach ulcers is the bacteria Heliobacter pylori. In their original paper, Warren and Marshall contended that most stomach ulcers and gastritis were caused by colonization with this bacterium, not by stress or spicy food as had been assumed before. They did not conform to current scientific thinking and were pilloried for their stand. Had they been scientific fundamentalist they would never have made this discovery and those suffering from stomach ulcers and medicine would have been the poorer. Stomach ulcers are now cured with a short course of antibiotics.

When the subject turns to Religious (or Political) Fundamentalism we delve into murky waters indeed. To my way of thinking religious or political fundamentalism (often considered one and the same when there is no division between “Church” and State) also holds back innovation by demanding (often on pain of death) that all people believe that they (the Leaders) alone know what is best for them – the populace – and that they (the fundamentalist leaders) are following God’s will. And generally fundamentalists of this ilk try to reduce the role of women to virtual slavery and to being totally dependent on the males in the family. Again, look at the Christian fundamentalists in America, the Jewish fundamentalists in Israel and the Islamic fundamentalists in many Muslim countries, particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia and then of course there is the basket case of North Korea.

I may be wrong (the favoured expression always used by someone who believes they are right!!), but by restricting education to learning the Koran and Sharia Law, or applying a strict interpretation of the Torah or the Bible, and by not educating women, these fundamentalists are holding back their citizens.

One needs to ask how fundamentalism, in any form, adds to the material or spiritual well-being of Mankind?