How Far I've Come!

thinking-cat-is-thinkingLast week, I ran some errands with Butch. One of them involved me waiting for him to take a test which he thought was going to be a half hour. It turned out that it was an hour and a half, which was actually good considering they had 3 hours allotted.

I was bored out of my mind after about 12 minutes of sitting in the car, and started to find ways to occupy myself. I got out and wandered around to look at all the different lichens on the trees, but I didn't have enough light to get any decent pictures. I paced , looking at ants, then sat in the car and read my book for awhile, tried not to think about how much Monster energy drink I had consumed on the way there, and let my mind generally wander around. It was excruciating. :P

At one point I noticed that there was a decorative wall that had the top knocked off, around a little flower garden near the front doors (which were locked so I couldn't go in and get rid of the huge amount of Monster now making me miserable). Next to it were lots of bits of broken concrete, but among them, like a shining miracle, was a smooth brown river stone. I picked it up and thought how lucky I was to find something so wonderful in all that chaos.

Miracle: An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of god.

[caption id="attachment_1867" align="alignleft" width="331" caption="Neece holding the Miracle Rock"]Neece's Miracle Rock[/caption]

Of course, I was just being silly. It was just a misplaced stone from another flower bed, but I was thinking how easily it is to see something that stands out as somehow special or miraculous. I slipped it in my pocket with a smirk. My sacred touch with the divine (NOT!). It reminded me of the way people see patterns in randomness and claim it to be divine, such as the magical stump and the magical bird shit. It's really nothing more than pareidolia.

Back in the car, waiting patiently, I glanced up at the rear view mirror and saw a sticker that I had put there probably 10 years ago. Now, in the 10 years that we've had this car, this is the only sticker I've ever put on it that was not practical. We have the registration stickers, and the oil change one, but no bumper stickers except this one, which I had placed there because it meant so much to me back then. I wanted to see it every time I got in the car. I wanted to be reminded of this message, which was:
The Universe arranges itself to accommodate your picture of reality!

Now, if you read HDC regularly, I'm sure you are aware that this is utter pseudoscience bullshit. It is completely and totally wrong and anyone who holds this as truth is crazy. I was crazy back then. I believed that thoughts were powerful and could help shape the universe. I was wrapped up in a lot of "spiritual" thinking that was completely bogus.

It was easy to selectively enforce those beliefs back then though. To me, this statement was accurate. It never occurred to me how ridiculous and nonsensical it was. I was a believer in "energy" and a conscious universe (even though I was an agnostic).

So as I sat there, I was amazed at how far I've come over the years. I now embrace science, reason, skepticism and logic, which to me, is much more rewarding, and certainly more consistent and satisfying than the desperate beliefs that were based on nothing more substantial than wishful thinking.

7 comments:

  1. I'm a fan of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series (Clan of the Cave Bear and so on). They're set in the Ice Age and the characters have various forms of primitive religions. The members of the Clan of the Cave Bear had this notion that if you had a hard decision to make you should ask your "Totem Spirit" and if you saw some "sign" shortly after that was a sign you'd made the right decision. The sign could be something as simple as an unusual rock on the ground or a cloud formation in the sky that had significance to the individual. Ironically so many Christians would laugh at them then turn around and worship a Jesus-shaped Cheeze-Doodle or scream because someone "desecrated" their sacred wafer. It's amazing how people can warp their own thinking and make what they see/hear/believe "fit" their dogma.

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  2. It feels so good to think so clearly!

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  3. It is sad to say, but it is very common after the death of a loved one to look for and "see" these types of signs. Reality is hard to take at times, and some people are so needy for comfort that they imagine all sorts of silly things. Thinking that you create your own reality with your thoughts is something that so many say they believe in. So, they can cause themselves to get cancer, liver disease , or psoriasis with their thoughts? Pretty scary. No wonder so many of them are praying to Jesus! I'll take logic and clear thinking any day.

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  4. I was part of the Word-Faith movement as a kid, which is similar to the "energy" construct. If you don't make any "negative confessions" (admit there's a problem, like your kid having asthma or an infection, or your bank account being empty) and have enough faith in jeezy-creezy, then everything will go okay. It's insane.

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  5. Sorry about the wait, I didn't realize they were going to lock you out. I think this article applies to me as well!

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  6. i had something similar happen to me a few days ago. i was sitting in my room doing some free-lance work stuff on my laptop, stressing about bills, rent, family,`job, etc...believe me when i say i got alot to stress about, when outside my window i heard the melodious chirping of several tiny birds. i looked outside and there they were, 3 of them, chirping and chasing each other around, first on the telephone wire, then the trees, then the ground, then back around all over again. it was really cute to see. and i thought, wow, this is the universe telling me not to worry, don't stress, everything is gonna be ok...like that song by bob marley, "3 little birds". i sat and watched and listened to them, thinking how in years past i would have thought this little display was god telling me not to stress. now i realize that its just birds doing what they do, asserting their territorial instincts, and feeding off the bird-seed in the bird-feeder i put out there for them.

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  7. did you know that Louise hay espouses the notion that everything bad that happens to you is your own fault, because of something you did in a past life? there are no victims, i think is what she says.

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