The beauty of life

All around me, I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of life. Something that is ultimately just vibrating bits of hyperdimensional string, or whatever those crazy theoretical physicists have come up with now to explain it all, can coalesce in to something as beautiful as life, and eventually look back upon itself and all of life.

Since moving to Canberra, we (I live with my partner) first noticed a lone magpie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Magpie) grace our back yard, watching us as we slowly transformed a ill maintained rental property in to a thriving ecosystem replete with luscious vegetable patch that now completely sustains us. Ever curious, this magpie would observe us, and assist us with removing insects and other pests from the garden. There is an undoubted look of intelligence in it's eyes. When we mow the lawn, this magpie will swoop down and clean up the exposed insects and pests for us. I grew attached to this mapgie and have often fed it rye bread and seeds to the initial chagrin (and now amused resignation) of my partner.

The magpie seemed to settle in, and we developed a healthy mutual respect.

Before the spring, it found a mate, and we delighted in observing these two birds frequent our garden and grow fat off our garden pests and supplied food.

A few weeks ago, well in to the spring, I heard a sqwaking, and observed a timid baby magpie toward the rear of the garden, and once more we delighted as we threw rye bread on to the lawn and observed the two parents rush to it's demanding offspring to share the spoils of our kitchen and garden.

When the magpies see us emerge from the back door, they actually came waddling up to us, hopeful of more spoils to share with their offspring.

And since then, we have watched this little baby grow (we believe there may be two, so it's a nuclear family) and take timid steps toward what is now fully developed flight.

It is a beautiful sight, and a beautiful sound to awake to. As we lie in bed, we often hear the baby magpie skwaking for food and it's satisfied gulping chirp as it is fed by it's attending loving parents. It is truly a wonderful blessing.

Magpies are reknowned for being violently protective of their offspring. Yet these magpies appear to be violently protective of *us* and their offspring, fending off other birds and pests from our vegetable patch (although sadly I suspect also the soil enriching worms I have encouraged although this may strengthen their population through 'natural selection').

I actually had a strange experience recently. When going outside to take the washing off the line, this very large, black bird was had appeared out of nowhere, and sat on the line as I took the washing off, watching me all the while, not at all afraid of me, almost me afraid of it! They are large and sharp looking birds.

And all the while I keep thinking, bits of vibrating hyperdimensional string, coalescing in to self sustaining forms that constantly replenish themselves with other bits of highly organised hyperdimensional strings, in a lifelong paddle upstream that eventually takes us to the wide ocean as we lose our form, ultimately conceding defeat to the universal trend toward entropy and disorder. The magpie and ourselves, all on the same river, different boats, different strengths, different weaknesses, all travelling toward the same ocean.

The crucial difference between the magpie and ourselves however, is that we are painfully aware of the ocean drawing us inexorably toward our subjective understanding of 'demise'.

With this understanding, many turn to ordered religion (contrasting with universal trend to disorder!), some to spirituality, some to madness, and some to all consuming inward looking reflection or self-centred 'athiesm' or 'hedonism' (both of which are a sure course to premature defeat),

I, am at such a crossroad. I have chosen spirituality, and if required, religion. I am a man of science and reason. However, I am not by nature a hedonist or self centred vessel of premature defeat. I read New Scientist, many newspapers, listen to News Radio, and Radio National (both science and 'religion' shows). I have resolved to nurture a part of myself, a seed of a soul if you will, that I will not allow to be subjected to dissection by reason.

I will marvel at the Cassini probe hurtling around Saturn, the almost weekly discovery of extra-solar planets and the inevitable discovery of other complex life, either on Europa or outside of our solar system. I will marvel at the the relentless march of science to map our genome, cure disease, and threaten us, and the magpies, with anhialation should our means overtake our maturity.

However, I simply can not accept that the universe was created from nothing. Perhaps our universe is but a ripple in a vast ocean, the intersection with other ripples of which causes violent precipitation or collosal disturbance (big bang? other disturbances?). Perhaps God is so far removed from our universe, that God is the overarching self awareness of a magnitude I will never comprehend, that oversees a vast ocean of universes, of possibilities, some devoid of life, others (perhaps our own) rich with complex life. I don't know. All I know is that if we expend the remainder of our lives caving in to cynicism and self centred self reflection and knowledge (don't we all know and loathe the dinner party guest who knows and is supremely critical of everything, yet never offers any constructive suggestions or expends any effort for anyone but themselves and the validation of their opinions), we will never know God.

I will read the Bible, and I may even come to practice it. I may as well practice something. I know there is a part of the brain that lights up under a PET scanner when someone has a 'religious experience', I know that 'de-ja vu' is caused by the mismatch of the total distance electrical signals travel in the brain causing an 'out of sync' experience, I know many things my unquenchable thirst for knowledge has uncovered, however I will not allow myself to become that supremely scornful or just plain cynical yet often lonely critic of all that I see.

When I come across another latte-socialist when I am out door knocking for a political party, another chardonay-socialist at a dinner party who counters everything I say, I will ask them "what is your solution? What is your suggestion?". It never fails to quiten them, and quickly. I don't see them planting trees when the rest of us are, I don't see them picking up rubbish off the street, I don't see them sacrificing their precious skinny latte to champion a worthy cause, I only see them sprouting stern opinions. Big whoopy do.

I will strive to make this world a better place. This is my manifesto.

And when my canoe reaches the ocean, I hope that I will not be alone, I hope that my partner and my family and community will be with me, and that my matter is not consigned to a hermetically sealed box where it is of no use to anyone, rather that it is distributed through the Earth to be re-used again, so my essence, now disordered, will live on, and hopefully, memories of the Good I have done.

Perhaps in my lifetime we will encounter other beings, in our universe, who are on the same journey. One thing is for certain, the universe is one collossal struggle against disorder, energy is order, and no matter the form of any other beings or life we encounter, the struggle will be the same, and we will have a common understanding. I only hope they are not as dogmatic in their views and as fearful of genuine inquiry as many of our religions tend to be, causing untold war and suffering and a totally unjustified fear of progress.

And all the while, the magpie sits on the clothesline, watching me, so similar, yet so blissfully unconcerned with any of this.

I watch the magpie as it raises it's streamlined form to the air and gifts the world with a beatiful and strangely complex melody that is a primordial language of sorts, and flies off to attend to it's offspring.

We are so like magpies, on the same river to the ocean. Always have been, always will be.