Friday, April 22, 2011
The Only Time for Us is, Right Now!
(4)
This realization is extremely important to modern civilization, and is beautifully expressed in Swinburne's, The Garden of Proserpine:
----------
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives forever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
----------
This important poem by Swinburne signifies in verse, humanity's emancipation from 'religion' and 'priests.'
This emancipation is variously expressed with words like, 'Atheism,' 'Agnosticisism,' 'Humanism,' 'Pantheism,' (I prefer 'Pink Pantheism'), and 'Nontheism.' The central 'tenet' of them all is the notion that our lives are but small 'windows' in an endless chain of existence. Each of us gets a brief 'glimpse' of The Universe and then we 'wink out' forever. 'Time' does not otherwise affect us. As far as we are concerned, the 13.7 billion years which preceeded us 'went by in a flash.' And likewise, the remaining life of the universe - however long that may be - will also 'go by in a flash.'
It follows that the only time for us is, 'now.' Right now! There is no other time for us. All else is flash.
Enjoy now!
This realization is extremely important to modern civilization, and is beautifully expressed in Swinburne's, The Garden of Proserpine:
----------
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives forever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
----------
This important poem by Swinburne signifies in verse, humanity's emancipation from 'religion' and 'priests.'
This emancipation is variously expressed with words like, 'Atheism,' 'Agnosticisism,' 'Humanism,' 'Pantheism,' (I prefer 'Pink Pantheism'), and 'Nontheism.' The central 'tenet' of them all is the notion that our lives are but small 'windows' in an endless chain of existence. Each of us gets a brief 'glimpse' of The Universe and then we 'wink out' forever. 'Time' does not otherwise affect us. As far as we are concerned, the 13.7 billion years which preceeded us 'went by in a flash.' And likewise, the remaining life of the universe - however long that may be - will also 'go by in a flash.'
It follows that the only time for us is, 'now.' Right now! There is no other time for us. All else is flash.
Enjoy now!
