The River of Life

ALL living creatures have their day and all things come to an end. Nothing stays the same and nothing lasts forever. As we move through life, we pass through a number of stages and we undergo a series of changes that continue till the day we pass out of it. We have our beginning and our end, our zenith and our nadir, and the journey in between. After the end comes the nothing and the nothing has no beginning and no end. It is always there by default. It is where we came from and where we go back to. It has no mass or volume and yet it has infinite capacity. It undergoes no change as there’s nothing there to change. We cannot see it but we know it’s there. We call this nothing, this other realm, ‘death’.



The River of Life

AS we embark upon life’s journey, we go through a series of experiences and we are constantly adapting to new situations. Our introduction to the formal outside world usually occurs when we enter the educational system. Some of us leave as soon as we're legally able while others pursue their education to a higher level. With some qualification under our belt, we go into employment and it takes up a huge slice of our lives. We strike up relationships, make friends. and find a personal partner to share our life with.  Most of us go on to have children. Many of us become grandparents. Some of us break up with our partner and take up with another. Many of us change jobs, some of us lose our job and then struggle to find another. And some of us are visited by misfortune and pass out of this world before our time. We may have a number of life partners, many children, or we may stick with one partner and produce no offspring. Some of us live a long and fulfilled life whilst others have a short and tortured existence. None of us, not one, knows what the future holds, and none of us can foresee what turn our life will take and where we’ll end up – short of the final definitive exit, of course... that much is certain.

LIFE is a dynamic, constantly changing state. It is not a static stagnant lake but a fast flowing river, and, like a river, it may cradle us and carry us along gently for awhile, but also like a river it may at certain points along its length turn into a raging torrent and toss us about until we feel all is lost. We will go through ups and downs, calm and torment, and some fellow travellers may be swept down into its swirling waters whilst others are recovered and resume their journey. We may lose possessions on the way and we may be worn and weary from the buffeting, but the river’s flow will carry us relentless on and on mile after mile. The options are few and the choices stark. We can follow the current as far as it will take us or cut our journey short by allowing ourselves to sink forever into its dark depths. What we cannot do is get off the ride completely, or turn back or alter our set course, for, unlike a river of water, the river of life has no sides, no banks and no overhangs to grab hold of and haul ourselves out. It’s either onward or downward.

THE great majority of us hang on for dear life and stay the course, enduring everything, endeavouring to make the most of what we have and what comes our way. We pass through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, maturity, elderliness and senility before we are inexorably swept out into the vast ocean of eternity. And so the journey comes to its inevitable end. We knew it would all along though we preferred to lead our lives as if we were immortal, without end, as if the show would go on forever. And for some of us ever-hopeful individuals, life in our physical body is just a preparation for an eternal spiritual existence. For some of us, the ride never comes to an end, it just changes... or so we choose to think.

Life's rapids

BUT whether we believe that we have a finite end or that we merely pass from a mortal physical state to an immortal spiritual state, we must all travel the same road, see the same sights, experience the same changes, and undergo physical extinction. The itinerary is essentially the same, though the timing and quality of the journey may be different. Perhaps if we were reminded of our mortality and if our physical demise were not a taboo subject, we would all be better human beings, more giving and sharing, less acquisitive, less selfish, less vain and conceited. Perhaps, in accepting our inescapable physical (if not spiritual) end, we would learn to prize what is really of value, what cannot be bought and sold, what has no financial worth but is priceless for our physical and psychological well-being. If we lived in a society that was more in harmony with Nature and its rhythms, with all the natural world around us and its manifold phenomena and with the various stages of life, the journey down that River of Life might be more comfortable, pleasurable, understandable, and ultimately bearable till the end.

But, my friends, that is not likely to happen, is it? Less now than ever before. For the river that conveys us on our life's journey is today a very different one from the one Mother Nature provided for our voyage from the cradle to the grave. Though with its roots in Nature, it has undergone an immense transformation process, a radical facelift, and it continues to take on new forms. Today's river of life has no defined course, no familiar features, no consistency, and no discernible beginning or end. It comes out of nowhere and proceeds into nowhere. It is invisible and unknowable. We cannot see ahead of us or to the side of us and there is no itinerary. We are aboard the virtual cyber-craft of our techno-world and more souls come aboard every day. Its progress is swift and silent and unstoppable. Whether it is the arterial route of a ‘brave new world’ or the Stygian ferry to a ‘cruel new hell’ remains to be seen. Enjoy the ride!

Blog terminated for being too popular!

I recently came across a defunct blog (the Internet must already be littered with the corpses of blogs cast adrift for a variety of reasons, including death of the blogger!) which had been terminated, it would seem, for having been... wait for it... too popular (!) and taken up too much of the blogger’s time. It appeared that the blog in question had a large following (how large this was, I cannot say, as the list of followers was concealed and no indication of its size was given). The blogger gave no personal name, not even their sex, and of course no country of residence (although from the posts, Scotland would be a good candidate!). All that there was in the ‘About Me’ section was a cartoon picture of a female and this gender was reinforced by the tenor of the posts. The Blog had apparently began in June 2009 and by September 2010 it has already been shut down. Not a very long time by any Blogger’s estimation, I would think.    
 

Damn! This blog of mine is much too popular!

What aroused my curiosity most of all were the various reasons given for closing the blog: ‘...fast disappearing waistline.’; ‘...the whole time my waistline bulged.’; ‘The hours put into this anonymous diary (why anonymous, I wonder?) have to be put to something more ‘real’,’; ‘It’s time for me to wash off that face mask, get rid of the hair band and let my hair down for a while.’  The issue of being overweight was a constant theme of this blog, one post going so far as to say: “Please God, if you can’t make me thin, make my friends fat!!” More tellingly, the writer added: ‘In the beginning I begged for followers and comments, now there’s too many to respond to.’ and ‘I have outgrown this space – in more ways than one.’



It seems that the author of this particular blog was closing it down essentially on two grounds: that it was increasingly stealing her time which she could ill afford and could better spend on other activities and that the time it demanded of her (and therefore obliged her to sit at the computer) was adding to her waistline! The growing popularity of her blog had made it all the worse and things had now got out of hand for her, as she was having to devote more and more time to it, responding to the many comments it elicited. (The complaint of most of us is that no-one is reading our blog!)



And so, after about one year and four months of blogging, the author brings the curtain down on her blog for being too popular, and therefore time-consuming, and for ruining her waistline (!), although she does add as an after-thought at the end of her farewell post: “It was so much fun while it lasted and maybe one day you’ll see me disguised as another.” Remember that there’s no photo of the author, just a cartoon figure, and no details about her in her profile. She does however make one concession in this last farewell post, signing herself off as Kerry. This could of course be a made-up name, although I rather doubt it, as there was no real reason to break with her constant practice of anonymity and give a name as she made her exit.



Despite giving reasons for her having brought her blog to an end, I cannot help feeling that there might be more to this than meets the eye, that there are other factors at play here, other motives. It could even be that the blogger had already decided to start up a new blog, under a new identity, make a fresh start, gain a new and different following, change the whole ethos of her blogging. It could be. We have no way of knowing. It just seems strange to me that someone who has been blogging for just over a year, won a large following, is attracting lots of comments on her writing, has made a success of it (where many others falter and fail), is now bringing it all to a close because, supposedly, it’s preventing her from having a ‘real’ life and from losing weight!



It's time to kill off this blog!

But maybe I’m too suspicious, too distrusting, and that the author of the blog in question is sincere and honest and is genuinely giving up blogging. Maybe. Or maybe she's just giving up that particular blog and wants to start up a new one, as I've said above, and prefers to make a clean slate of it? Blogs are being started and closed all the time and for all sorts of reasons and causes. I suppose the most common reasons for abandoning a blog are death, illness, failure to attract a following, a wish to start afresh with a new ‘skin’, a new outlook, a new take on the world, and not because the blog has become too popular or that it is causing the blogger to put on weight! And yet who is to say these are not this blogger’s true reasons?

Thus closes another blog as a hundred others start up. The Blogosphere is a curious place and its very anonymity gives rise to a whole host of peculiarities, eccentricities and excesses. There is often sadness when a much-loved blog is closed down and the author melts back into the infinity and anonymity of the ether which makes up the Internet. Sometimes there may even be a feeling of betrayal on the part of the follower who has given his support to someone who now shuts shop and vanishes leaving them in a defunct blog. This is of course acute when the posts dry up, with no reason given, and followers are left guessing as to the cause. Has the author been taken seriously ill or even died? There’s no way of knowing. At least the author of the blog concerned has made a final farewell posting, given her reasons for terminating, and taken her leave in a proper and decorous manner.

I suppose the moral of this little tale (if there be one), is that even success can have its down side. Somehow I don’t think I will ever have to worry about my blog becoming too popular or my disappointing my followers, or being missed by anyone in Blogland if and when my posts dry up one day. But maybe this is a blessing in disguise? There’s no pressure to please or play to the gallery, no stress to write often and well, no strain from having to respond to lots of comments, and no urgency to, well, do anything really. Yes, maybe I’m fortunate after all...

Goodbye 2010, Hullo 2011!

The countdown to the New Year has begun and, just as with the lead-up to Christmas Day, there's a sense of expectation in the air. But on top of that is a feeling that one door is closing as another opens, the sensation of a certain finality. The end of one year and the start of another makes us acutely aware of the passage of time, and the older we are the more aware of this we become. The years truly seem to whizz by.

The clock ticks on into yet another year



But as we cannot do anything about the march of time and, as yet, very little about our ageing bodies, the best thing to do is to try and make the most of the time we have left and to resolve to lead more constructive and more worthwhile lives in this incoming new year and in every year henceforth. This means appreciating all the good things we have and valuing the natural world around us and the human qualities that really matter, and not worshipping at the altar of materialism, self-gain and self-aggrandisement.

Party fun to see us into the New Year

It's good to see in the new year with friends and family, with celebration and exaggeration, and to make it a fun occasion in general. After all, it is a significant moment in time, one of many milestones in our lives. And, after the parties, the fireworks, the eating and drinking, the singing and dancing, the jubilation and the general madness of New Year's Eve, there remains only one thing to say before the lights go out on 2010:




SEE YOU NEXT YEAR, FOLKS!

 

Dialogues with God II

Man:  Hey, God, where are you? I need to talk to you.



Hey, God!

God: Well, what’s the matter now, old fellow? Why are you looking so down at the mouth?
M: You've noticed. I’m feeling depressed, you know how it is.
G: No, I don’t know how it is. What on earth are you depressed about at this joyful time of the year?
M: Well, that’s just it, you’ve put your finger on it.
G: Put my finger on what precisely?
M: It’s the Christmas thing, the whole shebang.
G: This Christmas thing? The whole shebang? I’m not sure I like the sound of that.
M: Well, it’s true. Christmas just gets me down.
G: This shebang, as you call it, is the celebration of my beloved son’s birth, divine spirit made into human flesh. This shebang is about the Saviour of mankind. And all you can do is mope around and complain?
M: Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, God, and it’s not really about your son.
G: Not really about my son? It’s Christmas... Christ... mass... and you say it’s not really about my son, the anointed Christ? Kindly explain yourself before you incur my divine wrath and I send down a lightning bolt to turn you into a heap of smouldering dust!
M: No, no, you don’t understand! What I meant is that it’s more about me and the way I feel rather than your son Jesus or Christ or whatever you call him.
G: Tell me more, because I’m still mad at you and I haven’t given up the idea of making you go up in a puff of smoke!
M: Calm down, God, and I’ll explain.
G: Go on, I’m listening...
M: Well, there isn’t much to it, really. But in simple terms, all this Christmas business... you know... all the shopping, present-buying, card-sending, carol-singing, goodwill to all men lark... and even the partying, boozing and bingeing that goes with it... all this enforced merry-making and jollity... is doing my mind in. It’s not my thing really.
G: Not your thing? I could take this personally and turn you into a leper this very second , but you’ve roused my curiosity now. What IS your thing then?
M: Well, it’s not so much that it’s not my thing, some of it IS my thing, like the noshing and boozing, but the rest of it I could do without. I mean, I lost my job this year, our mortgage payments went up and we’ve fallen behind with them, the price of everything in the shops has hit the fuckin’ roof, I’m pretty-well skint, the missus is spending the social money on presents like there’s no tomorrow, and we’ve got to go around smiling and laughing and be joyful in front of the kids and everyone else just because your son was born on this day a couple of thousand years ago. And the worst thing about it is that he probably wasn’t even born on 26 December!
G: Hmmmm... I see what you mean. I’m still hurting but I see your point. I must admit I don’t rightly remember myself when he was born exactly, but that doesn’t really matter, it’s the principle not the date that’s important. As for the rest, I can see you’re not having a great time of it, but Christmas comes just once a year and you could make an effort, for the kids at least.
M: Yeah, sure, for the kids. I haven’t got a penny to my name, we’re about to lose our house, I’m unemployable, the kids are driving me round the twist, the wife’s giving me grief every day cos things are getting shittier by the day, and you want me to make an effort. That’s just great!
G: You’re not a believer, are you, old man?
M: Believer? I suppose not.
G: No suppose about it. You’ve lost your faith.
M: Well, maybe I have. What’s that got to do with anything?
G: It has everything to do with anything.
M: Oh yeah? Like what?
G: Listen, my friend, I want to help you.
M: Help me? You’ve never helped me before all the times we’ve talked, so why should you help me now?
G: What’s gone on in the past is not necessarily relevant to what could happen now. Why do you think I’m having these chats with you?
M: I’ve asked myself that and I don’t have an answer. Maybe it’s to make me lose my mind. I’ve made the mistake of telling my wife about you and she told me to pull myself together and not mention it to another soul. She’s starting to think I’m mentally unbalanced. That’s what you’ve done to me!
G: That’s what you’ve done to yourself, old fellow! And I advise you to keep all this to yourself. But let’s get back to the matter in hand.
M: And what’s the matter in hand other than I’ve fucked my life up and everyone thinks I’m a born fuckin’ loser?
G: The matter in hand is that I can help you get things back on track if you do as I ask you.
M: Well the first part sounds good but I’m not so sure about the second part.
G: Well that’s the deal, my friend. Remember, I’m the Almighty and I can do anything I want. Nonetheless, I want you to do your part.
M: Okay, let me have the deal.
G: It’s simple. Turn back to me... err... to God.
M: What does that mean?
G: Embrace the faith again.
M: Are you having a laugh?
G: No. I’m deadly serious. Do you accept the deal or not?
M: Hmmm... maybe... depends on what it means.
G: It means that you should say your prayers every day, go to church every Sunday and on all religious holidays, bring Me back into your life and go back to being a real Christian.
M: Jesus! Oh, sorry...
G: That’s one bad habit you’ll have to put an end to. Now, do you accept the deal?
M: Hang on, you haven’t told me yet what’s in it for me.
G: Oh yes, I forgot. Well, simply put, it would mean the end of all your problems.
M: How’s that then?
G: Never mind how, just trust me. All I ask is that you come back to me, and then I’ll make all your problems go away. One by one, little by little, you’re life will turn around and happiness and fulfilment will come back into it.
M: You’re asking a lot of me, God.
G: I don’t think so, especially as the benefits for you are immeasurable.
M: You’re right. For a deal like that I would sign my life away to the devil himself!
G: Bite your tongue! For that remark alone I should take back the deal and send you to him to do just that! You ungrateful fellow!
M: I’m sorry, God, I’m sorry, it just came out, I didn’t mean it.
G: Okay. Now I don’t have much time, I have a lot of things to do today. So let me have your answer now.
M: Alright, alright... it’s a deal! I’ll do what you say if you get me out of this mess.
G: Good man! Here’s the contract to sign...
M: Contract?
G: Of course. You don’t think we could tie up a deal without making a binding agreement, do you?
M: I hadn’t really thought of that.
G: Well, that’s the deal, take it or leave it. Sign on the dotted line and your life will be transformed for the better.
M: I’ll sign, yes. Give me the contract and I’ll sign it.

..........................

 God? Lord? Where are you? Where’s the contract? What’s happened? Where are you, God? Speak to me... speak to me... please... I said I’ll sign the contract... come back... I’ll sign... where are you, Lord? Where are you? I’ll sign... I’ll sign... I’ll sign.... don’t leave me, Lord... I’ll sign....

Passers-by wonder at the incoherent mutterings of the vagrant sprawled in the shop doorway and hurry on past, shaking their heads, as the night turns bitterly cold.