Many years ago I was walking along the canal in New Hope, Pa., on a warm summer’s evening with Glenn, who was my “buddy.” I never took our relationship seriously so I was startled, to say the least, when he asked me to marry him. I was even more surprised to hear myself say, “Yes,” without hesitating! I didn’t know until that moment that I was “in love” with him and wanted to share his life.
I was in a state of shock for several days. I had always thought of myself as a cool rational being with an acute sense of self awareness. How could I “fall in love” with someone and not realize what was happening?
In the process of coming to terms with this experience I reached the conclusion that humans are analogous to icebergs in that only a small part is above the “water.” The major part is submerged. We use only a small part of our brains in our daily life. There is some degree of comfort afforded by habit and routine, as we go about our tasks including work, family and community.
Recently I found myself watching a program on PBS. The writer and presenter of the six-hour series is David Eagleman, an American neuroscientist. I gather that many of the decisions we make are prompted by our DNA and not engendered by our ability to reason. We have long been discussing “nature and nurture” and the influence of “heredity and environment. His study allows us to explore with greater depth how the brain works.
Parenting offers an opportunity for studying how the mind works, watching our children grow. Glenn and I produced three boys. The oldest tends to be cautious, but once engaged is totally committed to the cause and tends to excel in whatever he undertakes. Number Two is brave, inclined to take risks and is impulsive. Number Three tends to be flexible and adaptable. (If he is in the company of a person from England, within 20 minutes he will be talking with an English accent.) Over the years One and Two continue to be “at war” with each other. Number Three is the peacemaker.
It is hard to imagine a Heaven where all is “good” or Hell where all is “evil.” Our lives are played out in a world where there is a daily struggle between good and evil. We like to believe that the power of love is greater than the forces of evil. Actually, it’s up to us and the choices we make.
Leave a Reply