Are There Dogs and Rowboats in Heaven?
Two friends and I were discussing how important our pets were to us and the question arose as to whether there are dogs in heaven. Attributing the comment to C.S. Lewis one friend said, " I think so, but if there are none there will be a perfectly good explanation!"
I feel the same way about rowboats. There must be rowboats in heaven, and peaceful ocean bays and calm lakes upon which to row them while you feel your heart pound and your muscles strain as your eyes take in the magnificence of nature.
I went rowing today and felt incredibly blessed. Each oar stroke was an opportunity to give thanks for the privilege of being alive and of taking in the splendor of the scenery. Of course not everyone can experience the peacefulness of a rowboat. Many find the equivalent in a hike across an alpine meadow, a long swim in the ocean, a bike ride in the mountains or on the prairie, a game of chess on a verandah with a friend, a nap in a hammock.
Some of us attribute the sense of peace experienced in those circumstances to a Divine order. For others it is a more personal experience and not one related to any sense of the Immanent. I make no judgement with respect to which may be the best or the right explanation for those moments of peace. I only ask that those who don't share my sense of the Divine be open to the possibility that there is more to this world than our individual experiences.
Harvard University is embarking on a project to try and resolve the conflict between Darwinism and Creationism. Unsurprisingly the spokesperson for the project remarked that his expectation is that the project will fill some of the gaps in the Darwin theory and thus make less credible the argument in favour of a Divine role in creation, or to use the politically correct term the theory of Intelligent Design.
I don't think Darwin's theory has a place for dogs and rowboats in heaven, so I will continue to believe that life is a mystery and no amount of money granted to Harvard or Oxford or Yale or other universities will provide the answer to the puzzle.
This much I know, that David Stove got it right when he said, "If Darwin's theory of evolution were true, there would be in every species a constant and ruthless competition to survive: a competition in which only a few in any generation would be winners. But it is perfectly obvious that human life is not like that, however it may be with other species."
More on this in a later essay. For the moment I only want to share my joy in the resplendence of my 90 minutes in my rowboat, and hope each of you found the time today to be in your own equivalent.
I end with this reflection by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in The Celestial Railroad.
"Many passengers stop to take their pleasure or make their profit in Vanity Fair, instead of going onward to the celestial city. Indeed, such are the charms of the place that people often affirm it to be the true and only heaven; stoutly contending that there is no other, that those that seek further are mere dreamers, and that, if the fabled brightness of the celestial city lay but a bare mile beyond the gates of vanity, they would not be fools enough to go thither".
I feel the same way about rowboats. There must be rowboats in heaven, and peaceful ocean bays and calm lakes upon which to row them while you feel your heart pound and your muscles strain as your eyes take in the magnificence of nature.
I went rowing today and felt incredibly blessed. Each oar stroke was an opportunity to give thanks for the privilege of being alive and of taking in the splendor of the scenery. Of course not everyone can experience the peacefulness of a rowboat. Many find the equivalent in a hike across an alpine meadow, a long swim in the ocean, a bike ride in the mountains or on the prairie, a game of chess on a verandah with a friend, a nap in a hammock.
Some of us attribute the sense of peace experienced in those circumstances to a Divine order. For others it is a more personal experience and not one related to any sense of the Immanent. I make no judgement with respect to which may be the best or the right explanation for those moments of peace. I only ask that those who don't share my sense of the Divine be open to the possibility that there is more to this world than our individual experiences.
Harvard University is embarking on a project to try and resolve the conflict between Darwinism and Creationism. Unsurprisingly the spokesperson for the project remarked that his expectation is that the project will fill some of the gaps in the Darwin theory and thus make less credible the argument in favour of a Divine role in creation, or to use the politically correct term the theory of Intelligent Design.
I don't think Darwin's theory has a place for dogs and rowboats in heaven, so I will continue to believe that life is a mystery and no amount of money granted to Harvard or Oxford or Yale or other universities will provide the answer to the puzzle.
This much I know, that David Stove got it right when he said, "If Darwin's theory of evolution were true, there would be in every species a constant and ruthless competition to survive: a competition in which only a few in any generation would be winners. But it is perfectly obvious that human life is not like that, however it may be with other species."
More on this in a later essay. For the moment I only want to share my joy in the resplendence of my 90 minutes in my rowboat, and hope each of you found the time today to be in your own equivalent.
I end with this reflection by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in The Celestial Railroad.
"Many passengers stop to take their pleasure or make their profit in Vanity Fair, instead of going onward to the celestial city. Indeed, such are the charms of the place that people often affirm it to be the true and only heaven; stoutly contending that there is no other, that those that seek further are mere dreamers, and that, if the fabled brightness of the celestial city lay but a bare mile beyond the gates of vanity, they would not be fools enough to go thither".
posted by Ben Buan | 9:03 p.m.
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