Background

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

What Do We Really Know?


When dinosaurs looked up and saw a fiery meteorite shrieking into the atmosphere they had no idea their world was coming to an end. And I’m sure Romans couldn’t believe that a thousand years of culture were ending when barbarians were sighted near the gates of Rome. We are often incapable of recognizing or comprehending the important moments of our lives as they happen.


What do we really know? I’m asking this question on the Fourth of July but I’m thinking beyond the birth of our Nation. What do we know about anything? I follow the news and consider myself a political junkie even as I realize that everything I see and hear has been filtered and sanitized by various institutions and organizations before reaching me. When subsequent information leaks out I often feel foolish, so I try not to make snap decisions even though jumping to conclusions is the only exercise I get these days.


In an age where photographs and videos can be altered, when digital experts can show you a T-Rex devouring a man sitting on a toilet, seeing is no longer believing. Expert opinions are often coerced and purchased by the highest bidder. People we once relied on now tell us that poisoned foods are safe and the toys we give our children have been properly tested. Moral authorities we once trusted are now being prosecuted for molesting our children. It’s easy to be cynical at a time when our core beliefs are challenged daily and old assumptions like justice and personal responsibility no longer seem applicable. I shake my head and wonder what happened to the world I knew, and I wonder if I really know anything for certain anymore.


In my fear and frustration that I don’t know this “Brave New World,” a place that seems to attach little value to what I love and cherish, there are some things I struggle to hold onto. I know that I am loved and that I don’t tell people often enough how much I cherish them. I know that no matter how desperate or lonely or sick or lacking in hope I might be, there are others worse off. I know the world has problems but it is still filled with infinite miracles.


On this our Nation’s birthday, I know we are fortunate enough to live in a country rich in resources and possibilities, blessed with an abundance of freedom and diversity. I know that my faith and optimism will support me until a time when we love each other more than we hate our differences, when we will set aside our petty grievances and outgrow the slogan My country right or wrong, replacing it with My country when right, and when wrong to be put right.


Otherwise there isn’t really very much I know. Like I said, it’s often difficult to comprehend the importance of events while they are happening. We often fritter away our time on trivial issues, blind to the forces shaping our lives. Something remarkable may be blowing your way even as you read this. I’m reminded of an entry in King George III’s diary, dated July 4, 1776. He noted: Nothing of importance happened today.


I’ve little doubt that something of importance is happening to you today. Do you know what it is?


HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

37 comments:

  1. We don't celebrate the 4th of July here in the UK, it's just an ordinary day, but I hope you have a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah...you dissapoint me again my chubby bloggy friend! Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Independence Day is one of those holidays most of us don't think much about anymore except as an excuse to light off fireworks and barbecue stuff. But it really is about more than that. Whether Democrat or Republican we should really remember how a group of ragtag rebels were able to overthrow an oppressive empire about 200 years before Star Wars.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We are so much more together than we are divided. Let Freedom Reign!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The most important thing to remember is that all of this is far more fragile than we know, but not to make decisions or changes based on the fear of the fragility but the belief that most of us are still good people trying our hardest to find our way.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You summed that up perfectly. I, too, shake my head, and wonder where some of the values of prior generations went. For the most part, I try to focus less on what is happening to the world at large but be grateful for my lovely small part in it. I know I am more fortunate than a lot and I try not to take that for granted.

    Really, my only complaint..at least so far today...is that your comment system won't allow me to attach an altered photo of a T Rex devouring a man on a toilet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ... this used to be a great country .. it can be again but we must not fool ourselves .. stop listening to FauxNews so sad they didnt bother to apologize for 'reporting' the healthcare bill had been deemed unconstitutional .. they said (I paraphrase) 'hey we reported the news as we got it' ... maybe that should be its motto . ..

    have a safe grilled foods filled fire works watching Fourth

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for coming to visit my blog and for the compliment. I'm glad I came by for a look see here. I think we do in fact have much in common politically and life wise. Congrats on your 38 years of marriage. We were laughing the other night about being married longer that many of the folks I blog with have been alive. That's the magic of this venue. So many folks, diversity and sharing. Great to be a follower of your blog now. Oma Linda

    ReplyDelete
  9. Absolutely excellent post, Steve. In many ways it mirrors mine today, too. Here's hoping you and Ms Chatterbox have a wonderful history-making day. :)

    S

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy Fourth of July, Stephen. "Fortune" has surely blessed our country with the greatness of its founding fathers, the richness of the land, and the determination of its people throughout its short history. But so much has been squandered in the name of the god of a society that believe it must 'have it all' unless your are unemployed or underinsured or an immigrant, etc. -- or at least that is what seems to get people elected. There is so much that I am at a lost to understand -- let alone explain. It is reassuring to have discovered so many through blogging that do share my core values and beliefs. Why I've even discovered there are some decent Republicans! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I just finished watching the full season of showtime's "John Adams" on dvd. Loved that view of history.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Abuses have been with us since the beginning of time, however as you so rightly said "the world is still filled with infinite miracles!". Very well said Stephen.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wonderful things happen to me everyday of my life. I enjoy each and everyday to its fullest. Always have and always will. Life is so full of possibilities. You just need to pay attention.

    Have a terrific Independence Day. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for getting the inner wheels turning with your question. This is always a day of melancholy. On the one hand it prompts a childhood sense of joy and delight. On the other it recalls true patriotism, devotion and sacrifice adjoined to how we modern Americans regard the day as little more than a reason to eat, drink, be merry and watch bombs that sparkle instead of those that have more lethal outcomes. After all is said, I come down on the thought that more than anything this is a day that should celebrate conviction and principle. John Adam's did not celebrate nor observe the 4th of July, despite his contribution to our birth. He did not because he noted the Declaration was "declared" on July 2nd and he thought that should be the day of
    observation. That is an example of the American spirit. That is what we celebrate, or at least it is under all the trappings of modern party.

    ReplyDelete
  15. My country when right, and when wrong to be put right. Poetry, my friend, pure poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Excellent post! Things have changed so much. Our government has become old enough to be as corrupt as the best of them. I hope we can attempt to get back to the ideals we wanted to have and I think the majority still want. I do love my floundering country and I have faith is us as a people. Happy 4th. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I just finished reading a newspaper article about the potential discovery Higgs boson - the "God particle" - and was frustrated by my own ignorance and inability to comprehend what exactly those scientists and physicists are trying to explain to us. I don't think the average person comprehends the importance of this event. And then I came here, to read your post "What do we really know?" It was surreal - did you know I was going to read about Higgs boson? I believe with this discovery we are like the dinosaurs, like the Romans, like King George III - we have no idea...

    Now let me go and fritter away some time on a trivial issue: hot dogs or hamburgers?

    Happy Fourth of July, great writing as always.

    ReplyDelete
  18. You are so right. In God We Trust is more important now than ever before. Also, I had never known about King George's diary entry. Very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  19. A T-Rex devouring a man sitting on a toilet!!?? Uh oh, better get that picture off my blog.
    Great post, by the way.
    If I know anything, I know I'll die.
    Don't know much more than that, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Glossing over the big picture, and making your post all about me...

    You must be some kind of crazy psychic. C'mon. Admit it. I'm at least HALF right, huh? I dropped in earlier this morning, and BLOGGER was being a butt and wouldn't let me comment. And I read your little question at the end, and thought, "Yeah, right. Nothing ever happens to me." And then it DID! So I'm sure you were talking specifically to me. Right? Just nod your head. I'll know.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I know that it's better to be alive and fairly well today than the alternative.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Happy Independence Day. Like Al, i only know someday, we die. Other than that, it's all speculation and belief.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow. What a wonderful piece of writing and how I chuckled at the scene you described from Jurassic Park!

    I always loved that scene.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I know that nothing wrong happened today, so I guess that is good.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Very thoughtful piece. I hope that those important things are happening.
    I hope you had a great Fourth of July.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Very well said. I hope your day was wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Introspective and thought provoking. I read a piece about Andy Griffith and included a portion below.


    John Watkin told USA Today. "'The Andy Griffith Show' and Mayberry represented in some sense this kind of idealized view of what America was. It contains such a heart, such a sense of community."

    Some said Griffith's Mayberry was too sanitized with none of the strife generated by the anti-war and civil rights protests of the time.

    The more things change, the more they remain the same... or something to that effect. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  28. It is easy to think in terms of groups, or sets of beliefs, and to forget that most people, one on one, are polite, often friendly and often astonishingly generous. I have lately been thinking about what I "know" also, and I realize that there is actually very little that I actually know from personal observation. It is all things I imbibed from school or reading or conversation or TV. I have long thought one of the dangers of reading those crap tabloids was that a year later you remember what you read, but don't recall if it was in the New Yorker or some check-out counter rag. And you "know" something negative about someone who is celebrated - even if you disbelieve the specifics of an article, it is hard to shake the impression that this person is kind of a jerk, or insensitive or whatever characteristic is on display.

    As to King George, even after he found out what had happened, it probably never meant as much to him as to us. How many of us worry about what happened in American Samoa today? Britain was where the action was - the colonies were just supply systems and markets, and hardly worth the cost.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Being aware is the best I can be.

    Your words "we love each other more than we hate our differences, " is where I hope we get to in my lifetime.

    ReplyDelete
  30. What a good read, Stephen. You ask "what do we know" and I would ask "what have we learned?" If history repeats itself, which it often does, I say "NOTHING!" Who was it who said most of us just live our lives in quiet desparation'? That guy was on target. We see this stuff going on in the world, and we just sit back and DO nothing... and nothing changes. Yea I vote, but I have to ask myself why. Thank God for people who do pay attention to the political stuff, but I just can't hack it...I have enough trouble just trying to avoid worrying and all my other "issues". Thanks for causing me to think about something thought provoking:)

    ReplyDelete
  31. I don't know much of anything...and am coming to learn I don't need to because I have faith that God knows.

    ReplyDelete
  32. What do I really know? It's does not mean its.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  33. HAppy belated 4th of July!
    Waht do we really know?
    Live for today, becuase it is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thanks for coming by my site. Had been to yours a couple of times but left no comments. Sorry. Nice post.
    I believe every day offers something of importance if we are not afraid to look for it, grasp it, and use it to affect our lives and those around us. Perhaps it is a kind word or smile, a gesture of mercy toward someone you have held resentment against, or even a hug when someone needs it. A donation, a meal, a helping hand. Advice that is supportive, not damning, loving and tolerant, not critical and abusive. Maybe it's just a smile. It doesn't have to be "world changing" in terms of global effect, like a meteoric impact. It can just change the day of someone else, who then can change their attitude and the effect it has on others and over time, that can have a global effect, though in a slower, less noticeable fashion...except for those who are the direct recipients. For them, it's huge.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Awesome post, Stephen. And great reminders--that faith and optimism can carry us through and not to "fritter away time on trivial issues" Going into a weekend with some really tough family member situations, so this was incredibly appropriate for me to read this morning. You leant hope, which is a true gift--thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Words of wisdom, Stephen.

    The GlaxoSmithKline corruption case lends further emphasis to your assertion that we can't always believe what we are told (by psychiatrists/drug companies) or what we read (even in so-called scientific journals.

    ReplyDelete
  37. When we’re little everything is in black and white…it’s easy to know who is wrong and who is right. There is us and there is them and nothing in between. As we get older, we realize that not everything is as clear and simple, and there are times when both parties can be justified and still someone lose. When I was little I heard my grandmother say, “kids these days” referring to my parents. When I grew a little older I heard my mother say, “kids these days”, when talking about us. Recently I heard my husband say “kids these days”…and I had to start laughing.

    ReplyDelete