The Wren’s Nest

[Editor's note] - This is apt to be a very long and rambling post as I have not actually set any of this stuff down in ‘print form’ before but am just extemporizing….

I’ve never considered myself very religious - although I was brought up in a household wherein Mom took us to Lutheran services most Sundays. I read and learned the Bible. I (somewhat) remember and try to obey the Ten Commandments. The “Golden Rule” (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.) is still the biggie I guess. If you can do that you’re hitting most cylinders.

During my 30’s I never gave a second-thought to church services. I haven’t attended church since I was a teenager unless it was to a wedding, a christening, a funeral.

As I get older I question myself - do I have a spiritual side? My father had a great disdain for Catholics (”Brought Spain to a guitar and Ireland to poverty” he’d say). Like a lot of Westerners I explored Buddhism - His Holiness the Dalai Lama always appeared to be such a jovial elfin-kind-of-guy it looked like a good religion to embrace.

On my desk is a leather-bound copy of “The Confessions of Saint Augustine” which I ‘borrowed’ from my father’s library and never returned. And in the spirit of confessing - I’ve never read it either. I’m a little scared. I’m working-up the courage to tackle it.

Winston Churchill told the story of how his physicians recommended “exercise” for him during the war as he was constantly behind a desk as Prime Minister. “EXERCISE!” he exclaimed! “I get all the exercise I need by being paulbearer to my friends!”

I’m beginning to feel a little bit like him. In my twenties and thirties I flew to the weddings of my friends. Now I increasingly fly to funerals. It gives one thought.

And speaking of thought, this brings me to my next little sojourn. I was idly flipping channels last night when I came across Charlie Rose on PBS and he announced he would be interviewing Dr. Stephen Hawking. This is sorta like saying that he would be reuniting, interviewing, and having a command-performance of The Beatles! This was a big thing!

Firstly Mr. Rose prepped the audience by interviewing notable physicists on the thorny issues of quantum physics and string theory before giving us the prize of an interview with Dr. Hawking. Partly this was one of necessity as most everyone knows, Stephen Hawking suffers from ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s” disease and can only communicate using barely perceptible finger movements and a speech-articulation machine. The process is laborious and time-consuming thus necessitating the need on a 60-minute programme for pre-submitted questions.

Years and years and years and years ago my father bought for me a lifetime subscription to Scientific American. When I was a kid I couldn’t wait for the next copy to hit our doorstep. Now, I barely read it. It arrives on my doorstep unfailingly each month and I toss it in the bathroom where I’ll peruse it on occasion and that’s about all I know about string theory and 11 dimensions and quantum physics with muons, charm, and love particles.