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I had plans for the column that have been overcome by events, so I have decided to write an abbreviated one. The subject is still the same---the simple but beyond so many of our comprehensions---faith. Of course, a well-known, to the point definition of faith is spelled out in the Bible, "Hebrews 11:1" which succinctly says that "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And that is what I want to write about. My academic background at least as far as degrees is in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and, of course, mental health therapy. A lot of "ologies" there, don't you agree? One of the concepts agreed upon by all of these disciplines is that of anthromorphism and that in my own definition-- sharing concepts, values, meaning of behaviors, etc, that are human and attributing them to non-human creatures, lifeforms, or objects. This concept is particularly good for starting a "discussion" with a pet owner who wants to tell you exactly what his/her dog (cat, bird, hamster, etc, please feel free to fill in the blank) is thinking, why it did a particular action because it was mad, happy, etc. Lively conversations can be started about relative intelligences---is a dolphin "almost" as smart as a human?---well, yeah, if the human is evaluating and defining what constitutes intelligence. Put the human in the ocean or even in a Sea World tank and see how well he/she fares in performing dolphin survival skills or even simple tricks. Of course, anthromorphism works both ways---"heart of a lion," "loyal like a hound," '"graceful as a cat," "clumsy as an ox," "stubborn as a mule." The last two hit particularly close to home and have been applied to me on a, well, ok, regular basis. But I think George is right. In this cynical and selfish world we live in, it is easy to try to explain away things that perhaps are beyond our explanation---instead of going back to "the evidence of things not seen." Every year for at least the last 6 or 7 years, a pair of osprey has regularly in late winter, early spring, repaired a nest in the top of a dead pine tree on the Indian River in front of our house. No matter how many more limbs have fallen off the tree during the fall and winter due to nor'easters, they come back, repair their nest, lay their one egg, have their one hatchling, take turns feeding it, staying with it, and aggressively protecting it-just get close to the tree, whether a person, dog, cat, crow-and it is apparent why ospreys in German are called See Adler-sea eagle, with the, ummm, heart of an eagle-not to mention the talons and the beak. To me, one of the best examples of or metaphors
for faith is a plain looking cactus called either the sirius
or cereus. Native to southwestern states, this cactus
also does well in this part of Florida. Ten months out of the
year, it appears as a short-maybe foot and a half or two foot
long-dull, green square stick or if you are more imaginative,
a blunt, dull snake-like plant, that eventually hangs on the
side of a palm tree in mass, with thorns to remind you that it
is indeed a cactus. But during mid-May, small, white cotton-ball
growths appear-like the cactus has a fungus or something---the
cactus has a fungus--now that is a phrase I think I have
never heard or seen-I will have to remember that one. But these
"cotton balls" turn pink and slowly grow and from then
until the end of June or so, the plant truly becomes the nightblooming
sirius. Each cottonball eventually turns into what I think
is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen. As big as a dinner
plate and mostly white with some red, pink, yellow, its fragrance
is subtle-sweet, but barely (and usually covered by the scent
of nearby orange or lime or plumeria blossoms)-so its beauty
is mostly in its appearance, in contrast to the rest of the cacti.
No matter how beautiful the bloom, it only lasts one night-the
growth gets bigger and then as it starts to get dark, the bloom
opens in all its glory but at sunrise quickly closes and melts
away into a drooping pink blob that continues to shrink until
it falls off days later. Some nights, there might be one blossom,
others two or three or none, but some glorious nights, up to
twenty or thirty from the mass of many individual "sticks".
No matter, each blossom has only one night-full moon or no moon,
thunderstorm or clear weather, only one night. Now if I was tempted
to violate the anthromorphism concept, I would be severely tempted
to wonder if this might be an example of, yes, faith. For this
plain cactus, uses these one night blooms to regenerate, somehow
the flowers must germinate, and when they eventually fall off-lo
and behold, they have left behind smaller versions of the plain
green cactus which themselves usually fall off to start a new
plant.. Almost like an act of faith that it can put out some
of the most beautiful of all blossoms that each last only one
night, then that effort is enough to perpetuate its existence.
Have I committed anthromorphism, perhaps employing a little faith
myself and putting aside the mantle of cynicism and "realism"
that I so comfortably wear?---if so, let's see, yeah, I can live
with that. Will Dixon is a tenth generation Tennessean, but has since his college days lived in Mississippi, Germany, Texas, Florida, Australia, Tennessee again, and then back to Florida where he now lives in Rockledge, a small city a few miles inland from the Space Coast. Each place was the same and different as were its people - an education in itself if one were not foolish enough to ignore it, and he has tried his best not to ignore the people or the places. Now the voices come back either as characters or inspirations. The voice of an opal miner in the Outback might come back as the voice of an old sailor. Will is left-handed, dyslexic, an Aquarian, and has been told by numerous doctors that he has neurological issues; so he claims he is probably wired differently and looks at things from different angles than most folks. All well for writing, sometimes good for life issues, but can play hell when he is trying to understand the symbols used for international road signs! Send Will a message using the
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Probably Will:
I cannot verify that this quote is from George Carlin, it is
part of a longer piece attributed to George Carlin that I received
as part of an e-mail "mass-mailing."-but it seems as
though it is something he might have said, his intelligence and
wit have been missed since his death---unfortunately it was also
missed by many folks while he was still alive. Writing more and
learning less, when so many times all we have to do to learn
is just to watch and listen--reading is a bonus.
Cheshire Cat
Truly Calhoun
Songs of