The Internet Monk Archives

How the geometry of ancient habitats may have influenced human brain evolution

How the geometry of ancient habitats may have influenced human brain evolution

Here is an article in Ars Technica where the author postulates that landscapes that are not too dense and not too sparse comprise a “Goldilocks zone” where evolution could maximize cognitive abilities.

In an earlier paper in 2017 the author, Malcom MacIver:

…and several colleagues published a paper advancing an unusual hypothesis: those ancient creatures who first crawled out of the water onto land may have done so because they figured out there was an “informational benefit” from seeing through air, as opposed to water. Eyes can see much farther in air, and that increased visual range could lead them to food sources near the shore. MacIver and his primary co-author, paleontologist Lars Schmitz of the Claremont Colleges, argued that this in turn drove the evolutionary selection of rudimentary limbs, enabling the first animals to move from the water onto land.

Recently, MacIver has theorized an even more provocative hypothesis: the geometry of certain habitats shapes evolutionary selection pressures in predator-prey contexts. Dense habitats like rain forests or jungles maximize hiding in cover while wide-open plains maximize speed to escape. Using a complexity measure, they show both of these habitats have low complexity. The article states:

The complexity “sweet spot,” according to MacIver, is a landscape like the one featured in The Hobbit chase scene, or like Botswana’s Okavango Delta, both of which feature an open grassland and moss zones dotted with clumps of trees and similar foliage. “In this zone, neither speed games nor running for cover maximizes survival rate,” said MacIver. “But planning—by which I mean imagining future paths and picking the best based on what you think your adversary will do—gives you a considerable advantage.” And that planning requires the kind of advanced neural circuitry typical of the human brain.

They built predator/prey simulations to test survival rates of the prey under two different strategies. The first was habit-based, akin to entering a memorized password when prompted; the second was plan-based, involving the ability to imagine several scenarios and select the one with the best chance for survival. They used a simple landscape with no visual barriers to simulate a water environment and added various objects, with varying density distributions, to simulate land. The patchy landscape in the Goldilocks zone of complexity showed a huge increase in survival rates for prey that relied on the planning strategy, compared to the habit-based approach. They even developed an online game to illustrate how different landscapes (coral reef, jungle, savanna, and open water) affect our ability to plan and evade a stalking predator. You can play it here https://maciver-lab.github.io/plangame/

The upshot is his hypothesis that the patchy landscape in the Goldilocks zone of complexity relates to the near-quadrupling in brain size that occurred in hominids after diverging from chimps. Which leads him to say:

More speculatively, MacIver thinks this could prove relevant to the question of why human beings struggle so much with thinking about looming existential threats, particular those in the distant future—climate change, for instance, or antibiotic resistant bacteria (or a global pandemic). “Inasmuch as you believe that the ability to think about the future was driven by a need to plan, and that our ability to think about the past is derivative of this need, a lot of who we are may hinge on why we evolved the circuitry to plan in the first place,” he said. “The reason we are so bad about planning for the distant future may redound to limitations in this circuitry that we have not yet developed the cultural technology to circumvent.”

In other words, he is saying our ability to “plan our next move” is limited to short-term gains, i.e. escaping the predator, not long term gains like foreseeing the severe consequences of human’s cumulative effect on the planet’s ecosystem. Our brains have evolved to escape the near term threats but can’t seem to handle the longer term threats that loom in the future. So we have examples of slash-and-burn agriculture where humans deplete the sustaining capacity of a soil only to move on to the next area: but they can’t imagine running out of “the next area” to move to. Or strip mining mineral resources and leaving a barren moon-scape useless to any future human use.

In the July issue of National Geographic a villager in the upper reaches of the Indus River lamented his village was facing a water crisis from climate change caused by the actions of economies far removed from the simple farming and herding of his village. Would anyone care?

But there are also counter-examples to the examples of despair. In the US laws have been passed that require the reclamation of mined land. Germany, once largely dependent on coal, is moving beyond it . With increased efficiency of sustainably farmed lands, advocates hold that sustainably farmed lands may be as productive as conventionally farmed ones.

The April 2020 issue of National Geographic was a split issue with half discussing “How We Lost the Planet” and the other half “How We Saved the World” with evidence for each discussed in this issue. As Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief wrote in the lead editorial:

It’s a fitting reminder this month as we mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. For the occasion, we’ve created the first ever “flip” issue of National Geographic—essentially two magazines in one—to revisit environmental milestones of the past half century and to look ahead at the world our descendants will inhabit in 2070, on Earth Day’s 100th anniversary.

Two scenarios emerge.

On the magazine cover, there’s a verdant Earth. Welcome to the optimistic view of writer Emma Marris, who sees a world that is changed—we cannot undo some damage we have done—but one in which technologies will be harnessed to “feed a larger population, provide energy for all, begin to reverse climate change, and prevent most extinctions,” Marris writes. “The public desire for action is bursting forth on the streets … Just as in 1970, the electric crackle of cultural change is once again in the air. I believe we will build a good 2070.”

Elizabeth Kolbert looks to a new normal of “sunny-day flooding,” when high tide will send water gushing across low-lying U.S. coastal cities, and most atolls will be uninhabitable. This is the world of longer droughts, deadlier heat waves, fiercer storms, and more. “I could go on and on listing the dangerous impacts of climate change,” Kolbert writes, “but then you might stop reading.” She sees no evidence that we will address those and other threats fast enough to keep them from overwhelming us and the natural world.

It’s impossible to know who is right. The stories in this issue reflect divergent realities. When I read about the young people taking charge of the environmental movement, I feel buoyed. Then I see Pete Muller’s photos of a scarred landscape we will never get back. What I do know is that it is our job to provide a factual framework for what is happening, documentary photography about what is forever changed and what we can save, and information to help empower all of us to make a difference.

Goldberg is correct, it’s impossible to know who is right. Can we as a species evolve beyond the short term goal seeking to find the combination of thinking that will avoid the doomsday scenario? Can enough of us reach that evolved threshold to make the difference necessary to achieve a sustainable future?

What say you?

I say we’d better.

Klasie Kraalogies: Love and Marriage – was Frank Sinatra wrong after all?

The Marriage Contract, Gerard Jean-Baptiste Scotin (1745)

Love and Marriage – was Frank Sinatra wrong after all?
By Klasie Kraalogies

A little while ago I was asked a question by Mule, in the context of discussing Matthew Paul Turner’s divorce – and let me quote:

I am open to correction on this, especially from David and Klasie, but I think that the Reformation’s denigration of ‘monkery’ eventually did more damage than good. It exalted the married state and made it default in Christendom. In a way it opened the door for our present discontent, where the orgasm rather than the blessed Sacrament is the institutional means of theosis.

A very interesting concept. Of course, what we really should think about is the evolution of marriage itself, and the relationship between the sexes (including same-gender relations, btw, although I won’t specifically discuss the topic).

In 2017 a very interesting paper appeared in Nature. It highlights that whereas for the longest period in our shared human history we experienced little wealth disparity, that the dawn of agriculture led to a massive growth in wealth disparity. More recent studies of hunter gatherers by anthropologists like James Suzman (Affluence without Abundance, 2017, published by Bloomsbury) highlight the lasting nature of egalitarian societies like the Kalahari San.

Furthermore, research published in 2015 by Dyble et. al. shows that the stability of pre-agricultural revolution societies was based not so much on kin relationship as was previously suggested, but on sex equality. From the abstract:

Our results suggest that pair-bonding and increased sex egalitarianism in human evolutionary history may have had a transformative effect on human social organization.

The authors even go so far as to suggest that egalitarianism was the most important distinguishing factor between our ancestors and their close cousins, chimpanzees. From a 2015 interview with The Guardian:

“Chimpanzees live in quite aggressive, male-dominated societies with clear hierarchies,” he said. “As a result, they just don’t see enough adults in their lifetime for technologies to be sustained.”

Yet things changed quickly once man learn control. The ability to control environment spilled over into familial life. Stephen Bertman writes in his Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Oxford University Press, 2003):

In the language of the Sumerians, the word for `love’ was a compound verb that, in its literal sense, meant `to measure the earth,’ that is, `to mark off land’. Among both the Sumerians and the Babylonians (and very likely among the Assyrians as well) marriage was fundamentally a business arrangement designed to assure and perpetuate an orderly society. Though there was an inevitable emotional component to marriage, its prime intent in the eyes of the state was not companionship but procreation; not personal happiness in the present but communal continuity for the future.

Yet love poems from the same period abound – as well as other works of art. In the same work, Bertman describes a statue where:

An elderly Sumerian couple sit side by side fused by sculpture into a single piece of gypsum rock; his right arm wrapped around her shoulder, his left hand tenderly clasping her right, their large eyes looking straight ahead to the future, their aged hearts remembering the past.

Thus from the start we see the intertwining of economics, power, and love. Really nothing has changed.

The procedures of marriage are not really defined in the Torah. Much of the discussion around marriage and marriage life comes from the Talmud. For instance, if you think of marriage in Genesis – “he took her into his tent” – that is that. And if she can’t have children – well, then one of the servants should stand in. It is all rather ghastly and will certainly raise the eyebrows of the church ladies or the clan down at the Country Club. We don’t’ want those people around here!

As we know from the Mosaic laws, and continued through the various Jewish traditions, divorce was an accepted reality.

Over time though, custom and understanding changes. A lot. Then the early Christians started closing the door to divorce. Also, while St Paul was clear in including love in his description of marriage, in such a way that sexual intercourse is encompassed by the description, things pretty much went downward from there. Augustine has the “I’ll allow it but rather not attitude” – he believes that intercourse is solely for procreation. This quickly leads to the teachings of Chrysostom, with the claim that sexual intercourse exists because of sin, and thus the celibate life is a better way. This of course leads to a tension in reality – a tension that arises from the difference between biology and belief. At the same time, we find the ascetic ideal often including the ascetism of the table. And in the end, the viewing of life and biology as dirty. Interestingly, in my own fundamentalist upbringing, the same tension between pulpit and reality came was a defining characteristic of the culture. And the result of this is dysfunction.

But back to marriage. From Canon 50 at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215 AD):

Extending the special custom of certain regions to other regions generally, we decree that when marriages are to be contracted they shall be publicly announced in the churches by priests, with a suitable time being fixed beforehand within which whoever wishes and is able to may adduce a lawful impediment. The priests themselves shall also investigate whether there is any impediment. When there appears a credible reason why the marriage should not be contracted, the contract shall be expressly forbidden until there has been established from clear documents what ought to be done in the matter. If any persons presume to enter into clandestine marriages of this kind, or forbidden marriages within a prohibited degree, even if done in ignorance, the offspring of the union shall be deemed illegitimate and shall have no help from their parents’ ignorance, since the parents in contracting the marriage could be considered as not devoid of knowledge, or even as affecters of ignorance. Likewise the offspring shall be deemed illegitimate if both parents know of a legitimate impediment and yet dare to contract a marriage in the presence of the church, contrary to every prohibition.

The advent of the Reformation deconstructed the culture around celibacy but tightened the control over marriage. In a brilliant paper by Saskia Lettmaier (Law and History Review, Volume 35, Issue 2) it is shown that while many think that Luther’s earlier diatribe against Rome’s view on marriage led to the secularization of the institution, in practice this most definitely wasn’t the case. What it did lead to was the raising of the clergy to effective judicial positions. A similar evolution happened in England – from the same paper:

Jurisdictionally, in marriage cases, the English Reformation only removed the right to appeal to Rome. As the headship of the English church was transferred from pope to king, appeals, formerly to the pope’s curia, would now lie to the king’s High Court of Delegates (which was an ad hoc tribunal composed of ecclesiastical and temporal lawyers). Marriage cases continued to be dealt with in the ecclesiastical tribunals, as they had been prior to the Reformation, and secular courts, when faced with questions in which the validity of marriage was a preliminary issue (which might happen in property cases), would refer that matter to the ecclesiastical courts. The only curtailment of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over marriage consisted in the fact that the common-law courts began to issue writs of prohibition, enjoining the proceedings in the ecclesiastical courts, where an annulment was sought after the death of one or both of the spouses.

Then, by 1753, the marriage act was introduced. It declared that all marriage ceremonies must be conducted by a minister in a parish church or chapel of the Church of England to be legally binding. Only Jews and Quakers were exempted. This was followed in 1836 by Parliament removing the requirement of a Church of England wedding, and allowed non-Conformist, Catholic and even non-religious civil marriage. The amusing thing was the Scottish exemption – the 1753 act did not apply in Scotland, and therefore “irregular” marriages still occurred. These include the following:

1. A couple were legally married if they declared themselves to be so in front of witnesses, regardless of whether this was followed by a sexual connection. Marriage contracted in this way without witnesses was also legal, but much harder to prove in court unless there was other evidence, such as letters that confirmed what the couple had done.

2. A promise of marriage, followed by a sexual relationship, was regarded as a legal marriage – but this had to be backed up by some kind of proof, such as a written promise of marriage, or an oath sworn before witnesses.

3. Marriages ‘by habit and repute’ were also legal if a couple usually presented themselves in public as husband and wife, even if no formal declaration of marriage was made.

Anyone who has read Austen understands the tension between love and the securing of an economic future. The latter most often stood in the way of the former. It bears saying that Austen wrote using personal knowledge.

He may look good in a wet shirt, but what made Mr Darcy really attractive was the strong economic component. Footage from “Lost in Austen”, 2008, BBC.

So until 1929, when an English couple wanted to run away, they only had to make it across the border to Gretna Green, where marriages outside of religious establishments could be officiated, the most common being over a blacksmith’s anvil (Gretna Green, by Gordon Nicoll)

The more recent history of marriage is familiar to all, and I will not discuss it here. But the point of the survey is to show that out understanding of marriage and sexual relations associated therewith has changed a lot through time. Religious, and later civil control evolved over time. But in essence, the heart of marriage was contract and property. For the longest time this was between families. Procreative sex was expected. But from the earliest times love and of course, erotic love was part and parcel of this. Ironically, it was the church that tried to drive it out – but we all know how that went. The medieval experiment with celibacy did not end well – anyone who has read the words to Carmina Burana, or the Canterbury Tales, would realise that instead of ascetic purity, celibacy led to all the lasciviousness one can imagine, and then some.

Marriage has evolved. Traditional marriage is a misnomer – pick your date for your tradition! Fifty years? Five hundred? Five thousand?

Marriage is essentially, and has always been, a legal contract. The desired outcome of the contract is a growing economic entity. Hopefully, a pleasure and not a pain.

What then, of sex?

Some months ago, on a Stoic forum, the nature and desirability of sexual relations were discussed. Some (predictably) younger men counted sexual relations as adiaphora – they are irrelevant to your morality. I countered and spoke about the nature of sex and connection, and how casual sex denies the nature of intercourse, namely that it has a profound and deep affect on the psychology of the parties. I was immediately accused by quite a few people of putting sex on a pedestal – but interestingly, all the accusers were men. Every single female commenter supported my assertion. Now that is evidence from anecdote – sure – but it tells me that disregarding the affect of intercourse, especially on “the female of the species” is a deep, and potentially damaging mistake.

And it is at this point that one needs to counter the assertion that sex is all procreation. Of course, it is not. The reality is that humanity has practiced contraception – in Ancient Egypt, a mixture of acacia leaves, honey and lint was used to stop sperm. We humans are very fertile – and the practical result of continuous pregnancy are very severe – whether you are in Memphis, Egypt, in 3020 BC, or Memphis, Tennessee in 2020 AD. I do not want to have a debate here about contraception – but it is not a modern phenomenon and one should understand that.

But what then of sex? If marriage is an economic contract, why is sex bound by it? It is a good question. After all, should the very personal be governed by faceless bureaucrats or clergy that may or may not care about you (yes, there are many wonderful clergy out there. Sadly, this is not a universal statement).

At the same time, simple questioning will show the perversity and harm of “going at it like rabbits”.
Frans de Waal notes in The Bonobo and the Atheist.

Rather than reflecting an immutable human nature, morals are closely tied to the way we organize ourselves.

Bonobo Love. I could not find the original photographer. But a fantastic photo.

Therefore we have to realize that we have begun to understand as the morality of marriage, grew out of our need to make secure an economic arrangement, which itself resulted from the upheaval caused by men grabbing power within the familial structure, following the agricultural revolution. It helps to deconstruct the culture and institution and find out what really matters. And that is relationship. Sex has meaning within the context of relationship. And by relationship, I mean connection. Deep and real connection. Which requires four things:

Honesty
Commitment
Equality
Empathy

What it does not require is a piece of paper from a magistrate or clergyman. And yes, that statement should not be construed as a license for licentiousness. It means that within a formal marriage, if you so choose, or without a formal marriage (call it a commitment, call it a common-law marriage), sex should (ideally) not operate without those 4 things. Because if something is not real, if something is not true in its essence, it is a lie. And thus, at least from my perspective, it is entirely possible to be in an ever-so-close to an immoral relationship with the person whose name is on the economic contract sanctioned by the State and /or the Church.

Note that way up near the beginning, I said I include same-gendered relationships. Which brings us back to Mr. Turner. Him and his spouse seems to have done the right thing – they concluded the impossibility of the connected relationship they thought they had.

Another Look: My Own Desert Places

Another Look: My Own Desert Places

They cannot scare me with their empty places
Between stars — on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.

• Robert Frost, “Desert Places”

One temptation is to think the wilderness is without — a place, a geography, a circumstance. I’m in the wilderness, I say, and immediately I find myself off course. Yes, the place under my feet may be a desert and barren all around. But more likely I cannot see its fruit or the means it offers for my survival. It may well be that I can flourish in almost any setting. Only the aquifer must be found and I must sink a sturdy pipe through hard dry soil to reach it. That I struggle to do so consistently is the scary part and what makes me view the wilderness as the enemy. It demands from me more than I seem to be able to summons. The barren place without reveals my impotence and lack of creative imagination within.

Therefore, more often than not, I take an easier way made possible by this age of miracles. I go into debt to buy overpriced, mediocre quality groceries. I put the cost of a vacation at the nearest oasis on my credit card, and there I read brochures extolling greener pastures. I fall asleep, drunk on dreams. Then two weeks later I awaken and open my front door, and here I am again in the midst of a trackless wasteland. I squint against the blowing dust that slaps my face and feel myself beginning to sweat. The midday demon slowly chokes the breath out of me. I survive the afternoon, parched and overwhelmed with futility. I twist and turn in perspiration-soaked sheets through the night, both longing for and dreading the morning.

Not in a million years would I have thought, in these days, that my main vocation would be searching for water.

What a strange strange week!

What a strange, strange week I’ve had. I must say I am feeling a little discombobulated. Let me start with end of the week and work my way backwards. I think you will find a few engaging tidbits, so be sure to read to the end.

First, the picture is of a Chokecherry tree. If you have never tasted a Chokecherry, now is not the time to start. We used to call them pucker-berries, because although they look like little cherries, they are very, very tart. But… they make an amazing jam. For those who don’t know it, I am a bit of an artisan jam maker. Generally making my jams for foraged fruit. My favourites are probably wild grape, and black raspberry, but chokecherry has an exquisite taste that is to die for. I had been searching for years for a tree in my area with a decent enough crop to make my jam, and today (Sunday) I found one. It was just a few blocks from my house, growing wild next to the hockey arena.

Two weeks ago I had picked Saskatoon berries. For those who don’t know what they look like, imagine a blueberry growing in a tree whose taste is a combination of cherry and almond. That is the Saskatoon berry for you. The best pie I have ever eaten was a Saskatoon berry pie. Well, I didn’t have enough Saskatoon berries to make a batch of Jam, so I decided to throw them in with my Chokecherries. And I got to wondering, has anyone ever made a jam with that combination before? Quite likely not.

So I set my juicer on the stove with all the berries in the top. Once the juice was flowing nicely I decided to come down stairs to write this post. Well this being the week that it was, I was soon summoned upstairs. The smell of burned chockecherry juice permeated the upper levels of the house. I had let the juicer run dry. Fortunately, I was able to rescue enough of the juice that I will be able to make my jam this week.

That morning we decided to play hooky from church. We did a six kilometre hike around a lake with the intention from going for a swim at the end. The temperature hit 93 degrees, and with the humidity it felt like 105. My the time we got to end of the hike, we just wanted to go home, shower, and nap.

Of course I wasn’t the only one playing hooky on Sunday. I read Friday about a recent study published by Barna. Apparently the initial reports of increased online church participation were in fact just a curiosity bump. Apparently only a third of Church attending Christians have been faithful to their pre-covid churches. The rest have either been also checking out other churches, switching churches, or stopping attending altogether.

The dropout rate has been highest among millenials with 50% those who attended prior to Covid-19 no longer attending.

I am not sure where Saturday went. I think it involved a lot of sleep.

On Thursday I found out that a prior co-worker had just passed away from a heart attack. He was only 45. He used to sit in the cubicle next to mine and helped be out a lot when I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He had been diagnosed as a child. It hit home. Donovan was passionate about racing his motorbikes and I always appreciated his sense of humour.

On Tuesday another friend of mine made the National news by refusing to be the videographer at a gay wedding. In Canada, with some narrow exceptions, if you offer a service publically, you cannot discriminate who you offer it to. Although I have been quite outspoken as an ally of LGBTQ persons, I do have some empathy for the videographer, as no one deserves the hate that has been directed her way. It will be interesting to see where this ends up. As an interesting side note, about a year ago I was walking out of church behind a couple of guys who I didn’t know. They were talking about a wedding photographer friend of theirs, who “wouldn’t confirm his availability until he confirmed that the couple were straight.” I thought to myself this week, so are those the only options left to conservative Christians in the wedding business in Canada, be forthright and get crucified for it, or be deceptive? I think that Evangelical Christianity is going to have to take a long look at this and figure out where it is headed.

And last Sunday was another strange day. In my post last week I had said that I would try to make the best of a bad situation as far as Sunday morning worship goes. Then last Sunday they announced a change in the music format. The music team was going to be altogether again. Multiple singers, multiple musicians, all indoors, no masks. I was so upset I had to leave our TV room, and take some time working in the garden to calm down. Like the majority of those in the survey I will probably look to do something different on Sunday mornings going forward. Hey Chaplain Mike, is your service still online?

Well that was my rather strange week. I managed to get some work for work done in there as well. There are a few things in there to chomp on, and as usual your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Losing Is Winning

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2Cor 4:8-12)

If there was ever a NT epistle the church in my lifetime needed it is Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Writing to congregations that were troubled by “super-apostles” who preached a “gospel” of power and spectacle, the author sets forth the way of Jesus as an antidote to their triumphalism.

The other day, I quoted the above passage in a comment thread. One line kept reverberating in my heart and mind: “…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”

Unless I am mistaken, what we have here is a succinct statement of the Jesus-shaped life.

We lay down our lives as Jesus did, and through that — the cruciform life — the resurrection life of Jesus is revealed in and through us.

In response to people who were promoting winning, 2 Corinthians recommends losing.

In response to chasing spiritual highs, 2 Corinthians recommends the lowly way of servanthood.

In response those who emphasized impressing others, 2 Corinthians recommends laying down one’s life for others.

In response to a message of a “victorious life,” 2 Corinthians recommends a life that is “strong” only when it embraces “weakness.”

The contrast with what passes for Christianity today could hardly be more vivid.

• • •

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: July 25, 2020 — Satire Edition

The IM Saturday Monks Brunch: July 25, 2020
Satire Edition

• • •

FIRST…you didn’t think we’d forget the BEST news of the week, did you?

BASEBALL IS BACK!!!

With a commitment to promoting social justice for black lives.

Bringing joy that can’t be contained!

We are very excited for the first game of the MLB season starting this week. We appreciate the sacrifice the players are making to continue on at their jobs during such an uncertain time for our entertainment. We hope you enjoy this summertime anthem. This is Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids playing “Centerfield” by John Fogerty.

They blog at Nomadic Homebodies.

•

And now, let the SATIRE begin. We start with…

The Onion:

City Enters Phase 4 of Pretending Coronavirus Over

DALLAS—Saying the city remained on track for progressing into the final stage, Mayor Eric Johnson told Dallas residents Friday that they would soon officially be entering Phase 4 of pretending the coronavirus was over. “Thanks to the efforts of municipal employees, I’m happy to say we’ve reached the final phases of completely deluding ourselves into thinking that this pandemic has somehow stopped spreading and that we’re safe,” said Johnson in a press conference, in which he applauded the city for bringing them to this stage by successfully disregarding the virus in previous phases. “In order for this to be effective, however, we’re instituting guidelines requiring all residents to convince themselves that they can no longer contract or spread this disease, and that despite virtually no changes in the situation, we will no longer need to use hand sanitizers or observe social distancing. Phase 4 will also need all of you to start going into restaurants and stores without masks and pretending that this is endangering absolutely no one. Thank you all.” At press time, Johnson added that he hoped successful observance of protocols would allow the city to soon move into the outright panic and citywide devastation that would characterize Phase 5.

•

From the Daily Bonnet (Mennonite Satire):

Quebec Requires All Residents to Wear Head Coverings

QUEBEC CITY, QC: After an outbreak of “uncontrolled sassiness,” the government of Quebec is trying to reign things in and is requiring all residents to humble themselves and wear traditional religious head coverings of some sort.

“And, no, I don’t mean a vintage Expos cap,” said Premier Legault. “I mean a Mennonite headscarf–you know a duak–or one of those straw flat-brimmed Amish hats. Might as well throw on some suspenders while you’re at it.”

The new requirements came into effect this week, and a few residents have been reluctant to abide by the rules.

“I get it. We could all use a good dose of humility, but it’s 30 degrees outside! This outfit is way too stuffy! Gotta let my head breath,” said Mr. Gauthier of Quebec City.

The new law is a stark change for the province who is usually opposed to any form of identifiable headgear.

“Well, yes, but things were getting bad. People were getting prideful and boastful and self-confident and that kind of thing spreads fast,” said Legault. “There were all sorts of forms of self-expression that are just not acceptable in this province. Better to get things under control while we still can!”

The new law also requires residents to sing an a cappella hymn on Rue Dalhousie at least one a month.

•

From the Babylon Bee:

Baptists Lose Hundreds of Pounds Due to Cancelled Potlucks

U.S.—As churches across the country have canceled their potlucks for the past four months, one group has seen a positive side effect: Baptists, who have lost up to 200 pounds as they can’t scarf down casseroles every Sunday.

Unable to chow down on three or four plates of casseroles and guzzle down gallons of sweet tea after church every Sunday, Baptists are getting lean and fit. Most other denominations gained weight during quarantine, but since Baptists consume an average of 10,000 calories per potluck, they actually lost weight.

“It’s been really great for my health,” said Baptist pastor Jack Wilderbean as he tightened his belt another notch. “I kept eating Ms. Ethel’s tuna casserole every Sunday — she’d make a special one just for me in addition to the shared potluck casserole.” Wilderbean lost over 200 pounds since church services were canceled a few months ago, a phenomenon that doctors are calling “nothing short of a miracle.”

Unfortunately, youth pastors have begun starving to death, as the church potluck was their only source of food every week.

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From NewsThump:

Secret globalist cabal delighted with conspiracy theory that has stopped people wearing masks and allowed continued facial recognition

A secret cabal of globalist billionaires is today celebrating their success in getting gullible idiots to ditch facemasks, after it became apparent that wearing them rendered their global facial recognition systems obsolete.

As developed countries around the world begin introducing rules that mandate the wearing of facemasks to help limit the spread of COVID-19, it has come as a shock to the shadowy figures that run the world that their facial recognition systems no longer work as advertised.

Simon Williams, a secretive billionaire plotting to take over the world, told us, “We’ve been tracking you for ages. Through your TVs, your phones, CCTV – everything. We know where you go, and when you go there. But these bloody COVID facemasks ruined everything.

“Almost twenty years of technology investment down the toilet, overnight. We pivoted to video from audio years ago, before you’d even heard of YouTube, so of course we started looking for ways to undermine the mask-wearing programmes.

“Useful idiots like Donald Trump help, but the best way to get a gullible moron to stop doing something, is to tell them people like us want them to do it.

“We just started it spreading rumours that masks were the first step in allowing globalists to steal their freedoms. No, of course it doesn’t make any sense – but it combines their two favourite things, global issues they don’t really understand, and someone to blame for all the bad stuff in their lives.

“It’s working brilliantly. Just look at your social feeds to see all the people we’ve successfully manipulated into thinking a facemask is an attack on their freedom.

“I can barely say it with a straight face, but they fell for it hook, line and sinker and how we can keep on tracking them wherever they go. Happy days!”

•

From the Babylon Bee:

White BLM Protestors Try to Start Chant but No One Able to Clap on Beat

PORTLAND, OR—In what is being seen as a major victory for federal enforcers, Antifa morale took a hit today after the entirely white mob failed to produce a decent chant or even clap on beat.

“Pathetic, just pathetic,” said one observer. “They couldn’t even rhyme. I always believed in the movement, I don’t even know what to believe anymore.”

According to citizen journalists on the ground, the crowd began to dissipate after a failed attempt at the following chant:

“2-4-6-8,

What is the thing that’s bad because it’s the source of all oppression?

CAPITALISM!”

Sources confirmed that nobody really knew when to clap and people began to hang their heads in defeat. The leaders tried again:

“Systemic racism! Transphobia!

We’ll stop it!

Yes, that’s absolutely

What we’re going to do!”

Leaders tried to help people along by drumming on the hoods of cars and clapping but failed miserably. As the crowd continued to dissipate, rioters were forced to revert to their standard primal screams. Antifa leaders have confirmed they will be hiring consultants to help make their chants more catchy in the future.

At publishing time, the protesters had tried to just tweet their slogans but they couldn’t put the hand clap emojis in the right spot.

•

Best of Rick Steves’ “No Travel Tips”

Travel guru Rick Steves ran a piece on his Facebook page asking for “no-travel” tips from his fellow Americans who are stuck at home and unable to travel during this pandemic. ast Friday, He received half a million views and nearly 3,000 comments with countless clever “no-travel tips” to help bring a little Europe into our locked-down lives at home. Here are some of Rick’s favorite submissions.

Dig a hole in the garden, put two foot-shaped cutouts on each side, tell your family that’s the toilet from now on.

Wash all your unmentionables in the sink and then drape them over every possible bit of furniture in the bedroom.

Use suitcases for dirty laundry instead of a hamper. Then it is just like unpacking from vacation for every single load!

Tell everyone else in the house to pretend they don’t speak English and talk slowly and loudly to them.

When you shower throw yourself against the walls a lot — making believe it is really tiny!

Refuse to acknowledge anyone until they say, “Bonjour Madame.”

When you do get that occasional trip out, wear your money belt. To pay for things, pull up your shirt and dig out your money.

Change the hot and cold tap labels on your bathroom sink, or better yet, the shower!

Stand in your linen closet with a suitcase and pretend you’re in a classic old European hotel lift.

Detach your toilet seat and just sit on the porcelain.

Use all of the little soaps and lotions you’ve collected over the years from different hotels instead of the standard size soaps and lotions.

Stand around the corner from a painting. Just stand there for hours waiting to get to see it.

When your quarantine partner asks for water, ask, “gas or no gas?”

Try to charge every device that you own using one outlet on your bathroom counter.

Next time you go to the grocery store, just put all the cash you have in your hands and hold it out for the cashier to take what they need.
Ask your housemates for something in a foreign language; if they look confused, just repeat it louder.

Serve your housemates tepid water, and say you’ll be right back. Return three hours later and ask if they would like some bread.

Take tours of several of your neighbors’ backyard gardens. Take pictures of them and then force your family to watch your tour.

Throw coins in your neighbor’s birdbath.

•

I wish it was satire…

John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church announces it will not obey California’s ban on indoor worship services

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, which is pastored by influential theologian and author John MacArthur, announced Friday that it would continue holding in-person services, saying state mandates restricting worship are an overstep of government authority and thus they have no duty to follow them.

Pastor MacArthur argued in a blog post published on Friday that “government officials have no right to interfere in ecclesiastical matters in a way that undermines or disregards the God-given authority of pastors and elders.”

“Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services,” MacArthur wrote.

On July 13, California indefinitely closed churches— as well as restaurants, bars, fitness centers, hair salons, and barbershops — in at least 32 counties. A group of churches from the state also recently sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom after he instituted a ban on singing in churches as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“The biblical order is clear: Christ is Lord over Caesar, not vice versa. Christ, not Caesar, is head of the church,” MacArthur wrote. “Conversely, the church does not in any sense rule the state. Again, these are distinct kingdoms, and Christ is sovereign over both.”

He also argued that because the church is by nature an assembly, any restrictions goes against the nature of the church “in principle.”

“As government policy moves further away from biblical principles, and as legal and political pressures against the church intensify, we must recognize that the Lord may be using these pressures as means of purging to reveal the true church,” MacArthur wrote. “Succumbing to governmental overreach may cause churches to remain closed indefinitely. How can the true church of Jesus Christ distinguish herself in such a hostile climate? There is only one way: bold allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

➡️ Read MacArthur’s full statement here.

•

A funny, feel-good ending to today’s Brunch…

James Corden connects with a Canadian school teacher whose class has organized a hotline for senior citizens to call and listen to a joke, and to thank him, Billy Crystal pops in to the chat to record a few jokes of his own. The number for the Ever After School project is 1-877-JOY-4ALL.

Don’t rush through where Christians fear to tread

Someone I greatly respect recently posted the following on Facebook. It’s a short word about lament. I’ve been saying we live in circumstances appropriate for the practice of lament prayer, so I was glad someone is writing about it. However, when I read this friend’s word, I had mixed feelings. I agreed with his main point — that for followers of Jesus “lamenting simultaneously in and with trust is crucial to our well being” — but, on the other hand, these words troubled me because I don’t think too many Christians, especially here in America and particularly in the world of evangelicalism grasp the process this entails.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2Cor 4:8-12)

We see here the simultaneity my friend writes about. Death and resurrection mark the life and ministry of the Christian. Here’s how my friend put it:

What do the people Jesus created -— the Church —- do in times like these?

Here is what I think we do: We empathize. In biblical terms, we lament. But as the people of God, we lament in a very unique and Christlike way (John 15:11). This allows us to be a positive, faith-filled presence to the brokenness we lament.

We lament, mourn and pray in pain, but not without trust that hope and joy are in the very air we use to pray. It is not an either/or proposition.

We may feel hope/joy and lament/mourning in what seems like cycles or alternating moments. But lamenting simultaneously in and with trust is crucial to our well being and our ability to lovingly and effectively be present to and lead others.

But… but…

It seems to me that most of us are quick to rush through the “death” part so that we can emphasize the “resurrection.” In fact, it’s not uncommon for us to skip the first part altogether. We don’t allow ourselves to truly grieve, to mourn, to lament — to let death do its work in us.

This subsequently leads us to play the part of Job’s counselors with others. Sitting in silence with them makes us itchy. So we give immediately hand them a Dayspring card. We recommend a new Christian song that emphasizes God’s blessings in times of sadness. We spout a cliché. We run quickly from the foot of the cross and don’t stop running until Friday turns to Saturday and then we get to Sunday. But the old preacher told us to wait. Sunday’s comin’, he said. He did not say we get to skip right to the end of the weekend. He did not say Friday and Saturday don’t matter. He did not say we should avoid looking fully into the darkness of the inhabited tomb in favor of immediately embracing the empty one.

I want to advocate for a full, unrushed experience and practice of lament. We need to live in it, to soak in it, to let it do its work in us before moving on. Loss, change, and disorientation are wounds that require time and patient care to heal. And so, the psalms of lament describe a process that is necessary to move through. Taking the necessary time, not insisting upon an accelerated pace of our own choosing.

We don’t jump to hope, we more often slog our way there. However long it takes.

Let lament be lament. Don’t rush through where too many Christians fear to tread.

The State of Faith and Science at Internet Monk

The State of Faith and Science at Internet Monk

We are now more than halfway through the year 2020. I want to take stock of the status of faith and science and my desire to blog about them to encourage Christians, particularly Evangelicals, to adhere to sound science. When I started blogging about these issues in 2009 I wrote about a conversation I had with a former pastor and my desire to help fellow evangelicals deal with the so-called controversial issues of modern science, particularly age-of-the-earth, creation, and origins issues. I told him:

“…these issues are not going to go away and we evangelicals cannot stick our heads in the sand of anti-intellectualism and pretend they don’t matter. We, our children, and our grandchildren have to live in an increasingly technological society where science-based decisions involving the shape of our future must be made. Are we going to relegate ourselves to the sidelines of irrelevancy?”

So I designed and put on a class that dealt with these issues and then blogged here at IM in the series located here . My hope then was that perhaps I could start a dialogue that would lead some evangelicals to a less antagonistic attitude toward science. I really had modest expectations and thought I wasn’t hopelessly naïve.

Over at the BioLogos forum, Kevin Smith recently posted the following:

“I avoid discussions about evolution, the age of the earth, global warming and other science topics within my evangelical community. I do point them to certain books, articles or videos that presents my views. However, during this pandemic many of my evangelical friends are questioning the seriousness of Covid 19, often posting conspiracy theories on facebook. I usually ignore them and just post things that encourages safe practices during this time. I am very disappointed and sad in how many in the evangelical community are responding to this very serious situation. I’m not asking for advice or anything, I just need a place where I can share this because, like many of you know, talking about science with this community can be difficult and it often makes me feel alone.”

Well, that about sums it up for me too. Many of my former church mates who took my class now post the most egregious nonsense about the pandemic on Facebook. They apparently learned nothing about how to assess media articles about the pandemic, except if it fits with their latest conspiracy theory then it must be right. Evidence to the contrary is “fake news”.

I take some comfort in that the explosive resurgence of the virus seems to have shaken some people, including political leaders, out of their complacency. But others, like the Georgia governor, are seeming to double down. Most mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics seem to accept the advice from Dr. Fauci and others and are in agreement with the main points of mask wearing and social distancing. Even Jerry Falwell Jr. seems to have made a wise, science-based decision in re-opening Liberty University.

It was very disheartening to see the concerted attack against Dr. Fauci by Whitehouse aides, but that seems to have abated, and even Trump, moved by the polls that show the public disagreeing with his handling of the pandemic, seems to have tacked with the winds of public opinion, trying to save his reelection campaign.

The team at Covid Act Now—health professionals, epidemiologists, and other experts—have updated their COVID risk map to confirm the dire state of affairs: Not a single U.S. state is currently “on track to contain COVID.”

What would really make me feel better about my fellow Americans, as well as my fellow Evangelicals, is for the anti-maskers to start fading away into a very small minority, and their footprint on all types of media, social included, to correspondingly decrease. I’m not very optimistic but I am trying to remain hopeful. So much pain and suffering could have been avoided, please, God, let them learn their lesson however belatedly. I’m going to keep on blogging in the hope I can chip away at the ignorance however small my impact might be. Light a candle instead of cursing darkness and all that.

A letter to a friend from exile

Dear friend,

At long last I write back. Forgive the delay.

You ask, “What are you thinking lately?” To be honest, I feel my capacity to think about much in recent days has been greatly diminished. I’ve gotten overwhelmed by the numbing, unchanging situation that has hung on and on like a fog that just won’t dissipate.

We, the public, are being treated to something we rarely witness: the process of scientific discovery — or as one of my readers calls it, “the making of the sausage” — as we learn about this particular novel virus and try to develop therapeutic and preventative remedies for it. Heavens, this process is slow! And I fear a sizable portion of the American people don’t have the patience for it. Even now, still fairly early in the process, the air is filled with false information, looney conspiracy theories, wild speculations, ignorant claims, angry rants, and partisan cheerleading. People are raising huge stinks over the smallest, most innocuous common sense issues (masks, seriously?). Good people, like Dr. Fauci and other public health officials, are not only being slandered, but are receiving regular death threats. I have good friends I’ve known for years with whom I can’t talk anymore, family members who blame George Soros, Bill Gates, and nefarious deep state actors, believing the pandemic is a hoax and a conspiracy.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter much what I think about what’s going on. There is so much noise and dust and interference that my voice seems like a whisper in a whirlwind. So I go about my business, visit my patients, try to keep in touch with the family, work in the yard, and struggle with ennui, malaise, and weariness.

I’ve concluded that I live in the wrong country for this kind of problem. Imagine it, we’re now the pandemic pariah of the world. The U.S. is too big, too complex, too divided, and too libertarian and individualistic to process this well in real time with patience and mutual cooperation.

I myself am not as concerned about getting the virus myself, but what I am worried about is the effect on our life’s infrastructure, especially if we have a surge this fall in conjunction with flu season. I worry about my health network not being able to sustain its level of employment and cutting jobs. I worry about my grandkids not being able to go to school, and the adverse effects this will have on them and also on their parents and their work. I worry about my grandson who is a senior this year not being able to play football and missing out on many other facets of his senior year and the impact that will have on his future as he enters adulthood. I worry about the elections this fall and the chaos that could ensue if all this affects them adversely. And if Trump is reelected, I dream of moving to Scandanavia, but no one wants Americans traveling to their countries these days. I worry that, even if we get a vaccine, it will take a long time, and it won’t be as effective as we hope. Frankly, I’m a bundle of anxieties at this time and I don’t like it.

What a downer I am! Sorry about that, but I appreciate a friend to whom I can say these things.

These are the days for lamenting and carrying on as best as possible in exile.

Mike

• • •

A note on today’s art

“Flayed Ox,” by Marc Chagall (1947)

“…nothing quite matches the savage impact of ‘The Flayed Ox,’ 1947. It depicts a butchered ox hanging from a crossbar and may refer back to Chagall’s childhood visits to his grandfather, a ritual slaughterer. He began work on this painting in 1929. At that time it was seen as a premonition of the political and personal unrest he felt in the Soviet Union. Reworked after the war, Chagall biographer Jackie Wullschlager calls it “a self-portrait as a crucified cow, the carcass crimson and vermillion against a night shtetl scene: an expression of his fears for a Europe in which his art was inextricably rooted.” (The Artful Traveler: Chagall’s Years of War and Exile)

Let’s Review: Some basic concepts at Internet Monk (2) — Wilderness Journey

Let’s Review
Some basic concepts at Internet Monk (2) — Wilderness Journey

We are reviewing some basic concepts that have taken hold over the years here at Internet Monk. Most were introduced by the blog’s founder, Michael Spencer. Others come from Chaplain Mike, with thanks to friends and partners who have contributed. Since I, Chaplain Mike, am setting these forth, the language and emphases will be mine (except where directly quoted from Michael or others).

In my view, these represent the “fundamentals,” as it were, of Internet Monk. These are the themes the site and its conversations are built upon, the themes we return to again and again.

•

Wilderness Journey

We are all outside of paradise. We are locked up aboard an unsteerable ship, and we bide our time, unsure of ever reaching land, hungrily eyeing each other as the foodstores fail. We are that tainted generation of former slaves who now must perish in the wilderness on the outside chance that it will help our freeborn children enter into their promised rest.

• A Lent Sourcebook
edited by Baker, Kaehler, Mazar

In our first post, we talked about the “post-evangelical wilderness” many of us here at Internet Monk have traversed, and which some are still navigating. It is the personal side of that pilgrimage, as written about by Michael Spencer, that drew many of us to this blog. Michael wrote with intense honesty and vulnerability. And his reflections transcended the “post-evangelical” theme. He wrote about the human experience. He recognized himself as an exile in this broken world, lamenting his own limp as well as the unwelcome conditions that make the journey a continual challenge.

After Michael’s death, we who write here at Internet Monk have sought to honor this approach by being transparent and forthcoming about our own journeys through life’s wilderness. I, Chaplain Mike, have invited you to join me on the path that led me to the Lutheran church, to share my own questions, doubts, and fears, reflections on my childhood, my experiences in evangelicalism and beyond, my travels, my pictures, the music I love, and my times of being with people in the end of life as a hospice chaplain. And all the regular writers here have joined me in sharing their own stories and reflections as well.

In my view, these personal revelations form the heart and soul of Internet Monk.

I would encourage you to go to the right sidebar. Right above the Blog Roll you will find a search box marked “Categories.” Hit the drop down arrow and search for posts in the category “Exploration of the Self.” Then search “Wilderness Journey.” Reading the posts in these categories will set you well on the way to seeing how this theme has been a major emphasis of the blog over the years.

And, by the way, thank you to all who have been generous enough to share thoughts about your own journey in the Comments over the years.

We are travelers traveling
We are gypsies together
We’re philosophers gathering
We are business or pleasure
We are going or coming
We’re just finding our way
To the next destination
And from night into day

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Transcendental Reunion”

The heart and soul of Internet Monk, I say.

Here are some samples from Michael’s posts.

I have my doubts. About it all. God. Jesus. Life after death. Heaven. The Bible. Prayer. Miracles. Morality. Everything.

“But you are a pastor. A Christian leader.” That’s right, and I am an encyclopedia of doubts. Sometimes it scares me to death.

I’m terrified by the possibility that I might have wasted my entire life on the proposition that Christianity was true, when in fact it wasn’t even close. I wonder if I have been mentally honest with myself or with others, or have I compromised my own integrity in order to collect a paycheck and have a roof over my head? Have I acted as if the case for faith was clear when it was a muddled mess in my own mind?

What’s really frightening is that these doubts persist and get stronger the longer I live. They aren’t childish doubts; they are serious, grown-up fears. I don’t have the kind of faith that looks forward to death. The prospect terrifies me, sometimes to the point I am afraid to close my eyes at night. I have more questions about the Bible and Christianity than ever, even as I am more skilled at giving answers to the questions of others. I can proclaim the truth with zeal and fervor, but I can be riddled with doubts at the same time.

•

Why would I write an essay about this subject? Is this the ultimate whine from a selfish and narcissistic member of the victim class? Am I wanting advice or sympathy? No, I’m writing to try and face this part of myself, and to tell myself the truth about it. I’m trying to build a foundation for repentance. If it’s not interesting to you, I’m sorry. (“Where’s the funny stuff?”) I’ll make it up to you next essay.

My humanity, my spirituality, my relations, my work, my thinking, my life; they are all substantially influenced by my obesity. Increasingly, I have to be honest and admit that my weight is the platform from which I exclude God, hurt people, live my life and and choose my sins. Being fat has made sin easy; sins of every kind, and sins that have proven the hardest to mortify and remove from my life. My fear of dealing with my weight is a reflection of my fear of dealing with my deepest self, and who and what I am. It is a fear of the past, and I am sure it will one day become a fear of the future. I hide in my weight, and I foolish think I can hide from my weight.

•

What was that I heard? “Well….we’re getting better. That’s sanctification. I’ve been delivered!” I suppose some of us are getting better. For instance, my psycho scary temper is better than it used to be. Of course, the reason my temper is better, is that in the process of cleaning up the mess I’ve made of my family with my temper, I’ve discovered about twenty other major character flaws that were growing, unchecked, in my personality. I’ve inventoried the havoc I’ve caused in this short life of mine, and it turns out “temper problem” is way too simple to describe the mess that is me. Sanctification? Yes, I no longer have the arrogant ignorance to believe that I’m always right about everything, and I’m too embarrassed by the general sucktitude of my life to mount an angry fit every time something doesn’t go my way. Getting better? Quite true. I’m getting better at knowing what a wretched wreck I really amount to, and it’s shut me up and sat me down.

•

I’m just a guy with a life, and life is full of failure and loss. I wanted MINISTRY to be the ongoing reward. I wanted USEFULNESS to be my satisfaction. I wanted to be SIGNIFICANT. I wanted the contract to be in place and the insurance to protect me because I was the guy with the Bible. Well, that didn’t go very well, did it?

God thought it was time for all that nonsense to stop, and for the lifelong addiction I’d developed to my church as my universe, my wife as unquestioning supporter and my theology as my version of the inerrant Word of God to end. He made an appointment to pull the teeth, and I was not consulted in advance.

Ordinary life, extraordinary events and stuff that just don’t make no sense all combine to rearrange the furniture of my world. Every time I head for a comfortable seat, God sells it. Every time I look for the comfort food, the fridge is empty. Every time I get out my copy of “Things You KNOW Are True,” the dog has eaten it.

…Life goes on. Losses, gains, light, shadow, confusion, laughter, tears, God, Jesus, Denise, me.

When I look up from the road, I notice that the lights in the distance are closer and the noise behind me is not as loud.

Good journey friends. See you on up the road.