„And God said, I am the Lord, and I will bring you into the Land, which I promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give this Land to you, a Land flowing with milk and honey.”
For those of you who know your Old Testament (not many of you), you will recognise this as loosely based on Exodus 6.8, and more or less repeated to Joshua, before he led the people of Israel into the promised land.
I don’t know about Joshua, who seemed pretty fearless, but the entry into the Promised Land looks pretty scary to me. Here I am, on the last day of my full time working life, with the promise of great and wonderful things before me. Well, after 35 years of full time doing whatever it is I used to do, it feels like being at the top of a Black Run.
For those of you unfamiliar with skiing, I need to explain two points. First, skiing, like swimming, cycling or playing a musical instrument, needs to be learned at a sufficiently young age, when such skills can be acquired easily and certainly not at 50 years. My skiing is adequate, not fluent and certainly not automatic. Secondly, Black Runs are the most difficult, usually because they are either very steep or very narrow, or most likely both. I have successfully attempted a number of black runs, sometimes deliberately, but mostly by accident and on all occasions have felt a tinge of fear, bordering on terror as I look down the slope. I succeeded in all cases. I am still here, so that must prove something. At the bottom is the thrill of success, and the knowledge, that I have something to tell friends and family for the next few weeks.
So here I am, standing at the top of the Black Run of retirement. I have made plans as far as I can. I have done the numbers. The next 6 months, at least, is mapped out, and some ideas for 2011 in place. But who knows what will really happen.
The children of Israel had two chances at entering the Promised Land, and they should have taken it the first time. That would have saved them a great deal of trouble, wandering around in the Wilderness. But the Black Run was too frightening and they turned back. Better just to let go (as my son would say “Just do it, dad”) and trust (as Louise would say), and do it.
Well, here goes!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Has the Evidence been Tampered With?
The debate about the age of Creation has gone quiet recently. Not so many people insisting that Adam and Eve were created about 6,000 years ago. With the UK Elections and the World Cup football, perhaps people have just lost interest. I am told that the number of years, 6000, is derived from the Old Testament narrative, but I have not done the arithmetic myself. At least, if the disagreement has been continuing, it has not been in the news recently.
The science evidence points to the Universe being over 13 billion years old. Of course, science does not prove that the age of the Universe one way or the other. This does not prove that it was not created 6,000 years. It merely says that all the evidence indicates that this is not the case. Perhaps the evidence, your honour, has been tampered with.
Take this further. The Universe might only be 120 years old, again with the evidence suitably modified. (No particular reason for 120 years, except that none of us were alive then). Even more absurdly, the Universe might only be 5 minutes old, with our memories engineered, to create the illusion of experience and memories.
I should stop at this point. You might decide that the kindest thing to do is to come over and put me out of my misery.
I will make one further observation, before I have another beer. We generally assume that the creation of man was God’s main objective in creating the Universe. Also, man is likely to live on this earth for only a few thousand years, before he runs out of space to put all the empty beer bottles. Creating the Universe 6,000 years ago would show signs of impatience, not to say anything about potential tampering with the evidence. So, having decided what to do, God just got on with it. He got straight into the plot.
It might be more impressive and incredible to believe that God decided to create man (for whatever reason), and then to wait 13.7 billion years. During this time, he built a universe of unbelievable proportions and detail. Now this also requires patience and planning.
Perhaps both are correct.
The science evidence points to the Universe being over 13 billion years old. Of course, science does not prove that the age of the Universe one way or the other. This does not prove that it was not created 6,000 years. It merely says that all the evidence indicates that this is not the case. Perhaps the evidence, your honour, has been tampered with.
Take this further. The Universe might only be 120 years old, again with the evidence suitably modified. (No particular reason for 120 years, except that none of us were alive then). Even more absurdly, the Universe might only be 5 minutes old, with our memories engineered, to create the illusion of experience and memories.
I should stop at this point. You might decide that the kindest thing to do is to come over and put me out of my misery.
I will make one further observation, before I have another beer. We generally assume that the creation of man was God’s main objective in creating the Universe. Also, man is likely to live on this earth for only a few thousand years, before he runs out of space to put all the empty beer bottles. Creating the Universe 6,000 years ago would show signs of impatience, not to say anything about potential tampering with the evidence. So, having decided what to do, God just got on with it. He got straight into the plot.
It might be more impressive and incredible to believe that God decided to create man (for whatever reason), and then to wait 13.7 billion years. During this time, he built a universe of unbelievable proportions and detail. Now this also requires patience and planning.
Perhaps both are correct.
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