In the mood .... for a bit of dialectic thought?

This is the view looking toward the southwest from the Dakota house. This particular photograph was taken about ten minutes after sunset on March 13, 2015. The shutter clicked at 7:44 p.m. It is a moment in time never to have been seen in the identical, precise manner before or since. Every breath we take is just as unique, every sight we see is an instant never to be duplicated in exactness. My point to this is to never take anything or anyone or any moment for granted. Back to the photograph .... the body of water is Lewis & Clark Lake, a 26-mile long reservoir created by dams on the Missouri River. The distant land beyond the lake center left is Nebraska.

Never the spirit was born;

the spirit shall cease to be never;

Never was time it was not;

End and Beginning are dreams!

Those lines are some from the "Bhagavad Gita," a collection of Hindu verses which form a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Vishnu, the Supreme God, incarnated as Krishna, disguised as a charioteer.

Never was time it was not

Part 1 ....

This easily could be two posts; probably even should be. But, I seem to be in a hurry these days without rhyme or reason or a goal or even a destination. It puzzles me why this is, but, because it is, I am doing this in a single post.

I once wrote a short story about a "mad scientist" who found a way to "see" to the end of the universe and a bit beyond it. He learned by eavesdropping within the beyond that the universe is nothing more than a test tube, a petri dish in a laboratory. He also learned that if he shattered the dish -- which he has the ability to do -- the universe would end with it. Liberating a bit from "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells, this scientist gathered some friends for a dinner to tell them about his discovery and to ask for their advice.

The dinner goes on and the discussion ensues. Skipping over the elements of the discussion and going straight to the tale's end, the scientist has not yet come to a decision: Will he or will he not destroy the dish, which also means destruction of the universe and everything in it? Or, will he end his own life, which, in effect, make the necessity for a decision more or less a moot point for him personally and leaves it to become a dilemma for his friends to ponder?

The story still rests with that question and has no actual ending.

Part 2 ....

I usually look over the entire page of those I encounter on the sea of blogs. I have no idea how many look over my page, but, if they do, they will notice a quote by Will Durant: "The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers."

Durant was a historian, philosopher, teacher and prolific writer, among other things. He and his wife, Ariel, compiled a number of books during their lifetimes, including the comprehensive 11-volume, "Story of Civilization." The series was written over a span of more than five decades. It totals four million words across nearly 10,000 pages, with two further books in production at the time of the authors' deaths within two weeks of each other in 1981.

Durant, who studied to be a priest for a while, once said words to the effect that he could not find the answers to all his questions through either religion or philosophy, so he turned to the study of history. There, he claimed, he found most answers.

Part 3 ....

Here we have the dialectic thought: Part 1 is the thesis; Part 2 the antithesis; Part 3 the synthesis. Part 3 is yet to be written. In all likelihood, it never will be written and will be left dangling in a state of oblivion as so many aspects of life are left ....

While you are waiting for a synthesis which might never be written, try to watch a few sunrises and sunsets while allowing your mind to drift. You might not find answers to your own questions, but you will experience many memorable, never-to-be repeated moments and, if you are lucky, find peace of mind and the patience to wait and (maybe) to see ....