The writers’ strike reminds me that story telling in all its various forms from the most ancient to the present has its attraction in delivering people from the often harsh reality of their lives, and I was blessed by being raised among some wonderfully gifted story tellers like my maternal great-grandmother. However, the electronic age has made “virtual reality” a household phrase, but when reality becomes obscured by fiction it can lead to Pilate’s “What is truth?” Granted scholars disagree whether this was a statement or a question to Jesus, nevertheless one can understand why truth is often at a premium and one can either become increasingly cynical or earnest in the pursuit of it.

Something that helps when it comes to both philosophy and science is putting a human face on these, to discuss and present the issues in ways people can recognize something of themselves. Long ago I began to believe God is more human than religion credits, which made sense to me if we are actually children of God (or gods) made in his image. In some ways, even as adults we remain like children trying to figure out the strange actions of God even as we did of our parents and other adults around us. Eventually we may grow up and begin the attempt to figure out who we are; the self-examined life. But there remain those things that continue to elude us constituting what some call the “mysteries of life.”

For example, in the evolution of nations it is understandable I would equate our present government with the Mafia, our elected leadership together with their functionaries and supernumeraries as being only a more refined savagery under color of laws when it comes to their mode of operations. Not that the distinction between the two is not of great importance, but it is a distinction that favors those in power in government to literally get away with murder and corruption while using the power to tax as the power to destroy those that do not feed at Caesar’s table and thereby become Caesar’s dogs.

Greed and the lust for power are not that difficult to understand, but what about the power that governs the universe? The stars are beautiful, they are jewels in the heaven above sparkling like diamonds; but there is a caution to beauty that one should not examine it too closely. Once you do that, imperfections are bound to appear. A great work of art like that of Rembrandt if examined too closely with a magnifying glass appears as only daubs of paint. Closer yet with a microscope and it becomes meaningless. And the artist has probably never lived that believed they had achieved the best they could do, but are driven to keep trying. Perhaps the same thing is true of the Creator of the universe and life.

It is not plausible to me that the ancients could have discerned what are called “constellations” in the stars with only their unaided eyes. You have more success seeing shapes in cloud formations, but I would defy anyone to peer up at the stars as I have done over so many decades and see any discernable pattern to them. The IAU with its 88 “official” designations of constellations may help navigate the celestial sphere as viewed from earth; but astronomers know these groupings are essentially arbitrary, and viewed in three dimensions the stars would bear no relationship to each other in any configuration animal, vegetable, or mineral. To have described these as animals or mythical creatures by lines connecting stars seems preposterous, and the actual origins of the various “zodiacs” continue in dispute; but there is no disputing the ancients believed in stars mirroring and influencing people and events on earth. And while Astrology is accepted as the forerunner of modern Astronomy, scientists long ago left off the superstitious interpretations of the stars though references remain to various constellations, and most of us accept “the trouble is not in the stars, but in us.”

As archeologists and others attempt to determine how the several calendars and structures dedicated to a study of the stars thousands of years ago came into being one thing should be obvious; the ancients could not have come by such knowledge of the heavens without “help.” But where this help came from remains a mystery giving rise to many theories including that of extraterrestrials being responsible. As it stands, while theories abound there is no scientific, factual basis for how such knowledge of the planets and stars became known those many years ago.

Nor is it possible to understand how some of the writers of the Bible like Peter and John could describe events like the destruction of the heavens and earth in thermonuclear terminology. But much of the Old Testament contains descriptions of things and events one would place in the category of both scientific description and the paranormal, even UFOs and extraterrestrials. And long before there was a Bible as we know it, such things are found in the writings, artifacts and monuments of the most ancient cultures as they struggled to make sense of the world and the stars, of their very lives.

And so it was that various religious systems came into being; these apparently having lost the origins of the kind of scientific knowledge that may once have been available to those in the beginning of what we know as “Modern Man.” In this context, stories of Atlantis come to mind and we can only speculate what was lost of ancient knowledge by the burning of the great library of Alexandria. But there is no hard evidence to support such stories any more than that of extraterrestrial influence. We have tantalizing hints and clues in abundance; what is lacking is proof. It certainly does not help when we know those in positions of power and influence like those in government lie to us as a matter of course. Still, to what extent does this lend credibility to the various supposed conspiracies of silence surrounding things like UFOs? We don’t know.

Yet, because so many mysteries abound religions and their superstitions, the various conspiracy theories about many things continue apace and in science the origin of the “engine” that drives life and what it is remains a mystery. But this heavy burden of life we carry about in these vile mortal bodies subject to disease, death, and decay no matter how we bathe, barber, perfume, clothe and attend them, bodies filled with “worms” even while we are alive as Thoreau noted, in the end what will be the actual purpose in having lived at all? The Preacher in Ecclesiastes has it a living dog is better than a dead lion, but to what extent is this true in fact? We don’t know, and even the Preacher argues with himself over the issue. But this we know; over the thousands of years it is abundantly clear that while life has been a gift to some, for many others it is a curse and in the end all die whether the end be soft or harsh.

Still, the inevitability of death has only driven some to great achievements in efforts to give some meaning to their lives. Some with the gifts and talents for creativity have devoted their lives to the arts and sciences, some make great sacrifices on behalf of others, and many would say that to have known the love of family and friends makes it all worthwhile. But in the end none of us really knows, yet we live in hope that our lives count for something and try to live according to such hope.

A part of my own hope is the fact that there are some like me who dare think our solar system, our earth and life may be unique in the universe. If so, whatever our life consists of, perhaps the spirit of God that may be that great energy field permeating the universe, this gives impetus to the theory of our being able to change things by peering into them. But it may be, as would seem to be the case of Newton and a few others some are equipped to peer more deeply than others. There is more, I believe, to the spiritual realm of things than science can account for, but to which some scientists are drawn, more so than they are willing to admit. For example, the mention of ghosts, of specters is enough to draw derision. But in my opinion such things must have some application to reality based on the commonality of such beliefs and experiences.

A demon-haunted world may translate into a demon-haunted universe. Certainly what we know of the universe is inimical to life and the human form of life especially. Perhaps our solar system and earth are the result of forces described in the beginning chapters of Genesis.

The process of giving birth is a dangerous, painful, violent and gory business. The birth of the universe as theorized by the Big Bang was an explosive, violent process beyond imagination, as was the birth of our own planet. Given such unimaginably violent, terrifying and horrific events it is no wonder our earliest history is filled with stories and stone monuments of demons. While the survival of humankind in the face of so much violence, cruelty and savagery is a source of amazement, no less amazing out of such beginnings eventually came poets, artists, and scientists.

The New Testament declares there will be a new heaven and earth following massive destruction of the ones that now exist. The description of this destruction is like looking backward at their formation through the same process, but with the promise of a better outcome once the former things have passed away. Of course, we can’t be blamed if we believe present world leaders are going to give our planet a nudge in the direction of Armageddon no matter if there be an afterlife or not, whether there be a God, gods, or none.