Thoughts on reality

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen... through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (The Epistle to the Hebrews, 11:1, 3.)

The objects cognized by the physical senses have not the reality of substance. They are only what mortal belief calls them. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, 311:26-28.)

Schrödinger's famous thought experiment poses the question, when does a quantum system stop existing as a mixture of states and become one or the other? (More technically, when does the actual quantum state stop being a linear combination of states, each of which resembles different classical states, and instead begins to have a unique classical description?) If the cat survives, it remembers only being alive. But explanations of the EPR experiments that are consistent with standard microscopic quantum mechanics require that macroscopic objects, such as cats and notebooks, do not always have unique classical descriptions. The purpose of the thought experiment is to illustrate this apparent paradox. Our intuition says that no observer can be in a mixture of states; yet the cat, it seems from the thought experiment, can be such a mixture. Is the cat required to be an observer, or does its existence in a single well-defined classical state require another external observer? Each alternative seemed absurd to Albert Einstein, who was impressed by the ability of the thought experiment to highlight these issues. In a letter to Schrödinger dated 1950, he wrote:

You are the only contemporary physicist, besides Laue, who sees that one cannot get around the assumption of reality, if only one is honest. Most of them simply do not see what sort of risky game they are playing with reality—-reality as something independent of what is experimentally established. Their interpretation is, however, refuted most elegantly by your system of radioactive atom + amplifier + charge of gunpowder + cat in a box, in which the psi-function of the system contains both the cat alive and blown to bits. Nobody really doubts that the presence or absence of the cat is something independent of the act of observation.[5]

Another thinker writes:

Experimental Psychology has traditionally been partitioned into separate subdisciplines, with surprisingly little communication across the boundaries. Cognition has traditionally occupied one subdiscipline with perception and action occupying another subdiscipline. As a result, theories of cognition have typically neglected the perception and action side of our everyday experience. However, it is possible-even likely-that cognition is constrained by human perceptual-motor capabilities. Furthermore, it is likely that perception and action are constrained by cognition. If such constraints exist, then by ignoring them, cognition researchers have been negligent in their pursuit of a complete picture of human cognition. (The Atomic Components of Thought, abstract of Chapter 6, Action and Perception.)

"As a man thinketh..."

TMI for teens, IMO

A recent "news" report tells of a study that teen pregnancies are higher among girls who watch shows which portray sexual conduct. Another recent article describes statistics about teen sexual behavior which are saddening to those who would give young people a chance to learn what love is, before engaging in actions which are appropriate only in the context of marriage. Dr. Elizabeth Schroeder, executive director of Answer, a teen sex education program based at Rutgers University, is quoted as saying,

“This so clearly points to the need for comprehensive sexual education for kids,” Schroeder said. “An adolescent … is supposed to be making poor decisions. Developmentally this is the way they’re supposed to be behaving. They need help ...."

There is another way: spirituality instead of physicality. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "Children should be allowed to remain children in knowledge, and should become men and women only through growth in the understanding of man's higher nature." Jesus was more direct: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

In the second article linked above, Dr. Schroeder is quoted as saying, “Parents need help talking with their kids about sexuality, and schools need to be talking to kids about sexuality.” While some specific information is of course appropriate as part of a normal education, all of us, whether parents or not, can best support children by living pure and honorable lives ourselves, discerning and demonstrating the difference between affection and mere sensuality, and joyfully reflecting God, good, in every aspect of our lives.

Why I'm against government health care

The Pharisees of old thrust the spiritual idea and the man who lived it out of their synagogues, and retained their materialistic beliefs about god. Jesus' system of healing received no aid nor approval from other sanitary or religious systems, from doctrines of physics or divinity; and it has not yet been generally accepted. To-day, as of yore, unconscious of the reappearing of the spiritual idea, blind belief shuts the door upon it, and condemns the cure of the sick and sinning if it is wrought on any but a material and a doctrinal theory. Anticipating this rejection of idealism, of the true idea of god,--this salvation from all error, physical and mental,--Jesus asked, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (emphasis added)

from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. 132:14 et seq.

We already have so few choices when it comes to health care. Want a natural birth with a midwife? Benefit from chiropractic? Are you a student of Christian Science?

Do you have the right to choose for yourself? Will you have that right if national health care is in place? Or will you have to take what they give you, and pay market rates, without insurance, to get the health care you want to have? If so, is that freedom? Is it good?

Are we really so ignorant and incapable of determining what's best for our families?

Perhaps the health care plan doesn't intend to legislate what kind of care people will have, but, practically speaking, it requires it. Remember that doctors and hospitals now competing in the marketplace will depend upon the government for their funds, requiring them to toe the line to get that money.

I think we need to be very careful about this... and I don't like the idea that my representatives, in this republic of ours (it is not a democracy) may be voting for something they haven't reviewed and don't understand.

Please note I am not condemning or even mistaking the good intentions of those who sincerely believe that legislation is the only way to provide health care for all. However, isn't it reasonable to question the soundness of an industry which thrives by scaring people?

Preserving liberty requires eternal watchfulness.

Enduring wisdom

In recent web-surfing, I found this article by Alfred Farlow, entitled "Christian Science in Business." It is pithy, on-point, and apt - especially at this time in our nation's financial experience.

I found it further comforting to note that it originally appeared in the Christian Science Sentinel on August 26, 1904.

We do not need to scramble around looking for new truths to explain what's happening in our economy. We already have what we need to know... thank God.

Practical Christianity

My motive in setting up this blog is to discuss the journey to peace and wholeness. Each of us must make this journey. Our deepest longings, the most cherished secrets of the heart, point us towards a place of peace and safety.

We can get sidetracked on the way, and sit down, like Pooh, in the prickles. Or we get tired of waiting for the Best, and settle for the Good, or the Will be Good If, or the It's Not So Bad. There's nothing wrong with that, but we risk missing the perfect peace which can be ours if we stay the course and trust.

This blog is about trust.

Back at the books again

I am a student of Christian Science. I've dropped out a lot of times, but one never forgets the teachings, and, sooner or later, I always come back to the books: the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

My approach right now is very much day to day, moment to moment. You could say my attitude is laissez faire. Laissez faire is a French expression which I understand to mean, "let do."

In my case, it's let God do.

My background is in liturgical Christianity. One of the things which attracted me to Christian Science almost 30 years ago is that its church services have not changed. The worship custom of the church I had been attached to had been changed radically in a very short time, and I felt bereft and even fearful. Christian Science was the same. It was comforting.

However, "comfort" must not give way to "stodgy." Nor must Christian Scientists draw back from confronting the miasma of conflicting thoughts about man and relationships and God which swirl around in various media with seeming authority.

I'm not a mathematician, but I'm in love with one; he's my dearest friend. We discuss quantum theory - well, he discusses, and I try to keep up. The first time it was explained to me, I thought: why, that's Christian Science!

If a scientist wishes to refute that, fine; but said scientist, if s/he's honest, will spend some serious time with Mrs. Eddy's textbook before dismissing it. You cannot make a decision about it immediately, any more than you can understand quantum mechanics immediately. But what's at stake is more than just interesting, it's vital: the definition of reality. And students of Christian Science will attest that if you get that reality thing down, it clears the deck for a lot of progress!

A timely reminder

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. I John 5:16

This does not say, "If you see someone do something you don't like or approve of, or which you feel is incorrect or out of line or inappropriate"--and this is not about sins "unto death," just regular annoyances and intrusions and gaffes and goofs and generally clueless behavior--"if you see someone do something like that, criticize them, run them down, 'tsk, tsk' at them, or gossip about them."

In fact, I challenge you to find in the Bible anyplace where it indicates that's a right response to another's erring ways.

John tells us what to do: intercede.

Oswald Chambers explains: "He reveals things so that we may take the burden of these souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them, and as we intercede on His line, God says He will give us 'life for them that sin not unto death.' It is not that we bring God into touch with our minds, but that we rouse ourselves until God is able to convey His mind to us about the one for whom we intercede." (My Utmost for His Highest)

That means pray for the one who has messed up. Ask God to show you what the truth is about the situation, if it is yours to know, and to bless and guide His child in the meantime.

It doesn't matter whether we're right and the erring one is wrong. Our turn to be wrong will come soon enough! And we probably won't be any more aware of it than our hapless brother or sister was, in the moment when they annoyed us.

I don't know about you, but if I'd been following that counsel over the last few months, I would have prayed more for those whose laudable desire to provide for their families was transformed into outright money-lust.

And they, of all people, need prayer. They might escape earthly justice for a while, but there is One who watches every move, knows every thought, and wants them to love Him, rather than His bountiful gifts.

Had I prayed for them properly, I think I could have spared myself a lot of unworthy, uncharitable moments.

So, pray for me, if you will: ask God to guide my heart and thoughts, that I may do as John says, and ask God to give life to those whose erring ways I happen to notice.