McManus brings up an interesting question about animals: Do you think they are aware of time? Does a mayfly know of its mortality (that it'll be dead within 24 hours of its birth)? It's funny to think of reincarnation in this context. The poor reincarnated soul must've led a terribly bad life previously to end up in this state. It's kind of a sad state of affairs ... if it were true.
"One of the clear distinctions between us and the rest of created life is that while insects, reptiles, birds, fish, amphibians, and even mammals are content with surviving, humans are not content to simply survive; we are driven to thrive."
We do have an innate sense of purpose, of pursuing destiny, don't we? We dream. We strive. We want to change the world. It would seem possible -- and even plausible -- that, since we have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead residing in us, so we have the potential to do great and mighty things. Miracles, even, should be within our reach. Believing that probably opens up doors that a skeptic wouldn't be privvy to.
"It's not enough for us to merely exist; we are compelled to achieve. This drive would not even exist without a concept of time..."
McManus delves into a discussion about subjective reality. I remember taking a course in college called "The Politics of Reality." We covered many topics and had several discussions in this class. At one point the professor stopped talking and we picked up the lead and kept the discussions going in sort of a teaching experiment gone successful. One of the ideas was that the reality around us was not absolute. If we all looked up in the sky and saw a rainbow and agreed with each other that we saw a rainbow, then the rainbow "existed" in this subjective reality. It was only real because we collectively thought it was. While that's a funny head trip to ponder, I can't help but think that it's dumb.
McManus brings up a funny retort to it. He drives by a McDonald's and notes the sign says: "Over One Billion Served." He asks, "If this is all make-believe, why would we make up McDonald's?" Ha ha ha.
"Oh, and could you supersize that thought?"
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 8, 2007 01:15 PM