Wednesday 06

Having had a week of disagreeable weather, Myrtle and I decided to take an early morning walk into the pastures surrounding our home. The days throughout the past week have been dark, cold and wet. A few days ago, I was shocked to see that our barometric pressure was the lowest I had ever seen, 980 hPa.

Our morning today was a clear sky, cold and dry. We felt invigorated; a few high altitude clouds formed a pattern seldom seen. We aim to walk at least one mile every day, but we decided to continue being such an exhilarating day. Despite our season being well into Autumn, the vegetation is still lush and green.

We were excited to see a butterfly, and it evoked thoughts of how few insects we encounter when on walks. Beautiful scenery, enormous fields with straight rows of growing crops and a tiny train passing in the distance. It reminded me of pictures in the encyclopedias I had in my youth.

Marcus Aurelius inspired me. We don't control the world around us; we only control how we respond; he is a student of stoicism and the last of the five good Roman emperors. It was good to be alive on a day like this. It is good to embrace adversity, to challenge ourselves, as Seneca said, stay in the present, stay in reality. Our big mistake is to think that we anticipate death, but most of the death has already passed; time passed is owned by death. Death is not something that lies ahead of us. In the uncertain future, we die each day, and the past is irrecoverable. We returned home, exhausted.

A Call to Alms.

It is a weird sentiment to quietly reflect upon the probable destiny of life on this planet. For decades, scientists have warned of impending doom. Given the current human population, it is not surprising that the rapidly intensifying changes are now evident.

It has taken 200 years for the global population to grow from a little more than one billion to the present estimate of 7.8 billion in January 2021.

As a species, we persistently desecrate our irreplaceable home. In contrast, we search for an alternative world that may only benefit the privileged few. 

There is no question; our kind is unique and not part of the fundamental and natural biological diversity purposed for this planet. We are no less alien; having deviated from the norm, we have extended ourselves beyond comprehension. With our superior brain mastery, we consistently and mindlessly besmirch our most incredible legacy to the point of extinction. 

Humans are entirely dependent on the diversity of living matter. Everything is co-dependent. By invading ecosystems, a million species are nearing global extinction. The globe faces a future of hunger, malnutrition, mass unemployment, a refugee crisis and ever more calamitous pandemics.

In pursuing wealth, ignorance and self-interest, counter-action is viewed as too costly to be viable. The mainstream is having difficulty grasping the significance, notwithstanding the steady erosion of the fabric of human civilisation,

It is doubtful that entrepreneurs will make any economic modification of sufficient scale in time to save humankind. Having exhausted the soil and the sea to feed the growing population, we lack the resources to invade or seek an alternative source.  

All that is left for us now is to return to the fundamentals of our creation. Love and take care of one another, as it was in the beginning and ever should be!  

Walking past the kitchen waste dump

 Walking past the kitchen waste dump at St. John's in Heytesbury, I noticed a few large white discarded potatoes. A few days later, the potatoes were joined by a few brown eggs. 

I gathered up the potatoes and found them to be perfect, better than I usually buy. The eggs, I was a bit suspicious and left them to someone else. It is not my intention to condemn anyone, but the event struck me as an incident of concern. The probability is that potatoes, in fact, all food, will become more precious than gold

A recent meeting of the IPCC reported that the planet is now warmer than it has been in 125,000 years and scientists concluded that we face a dreadful future. Human-generated greenhouse gases are, without a doubt driving the extreme weather conditions.   

In addition, the crisis we must now confront is the growth of the human population and the loss of plants and animals. The planet faces a future of hunger, malnutrition, mass unemployment, a refugee crisis and ever more calamitous pandemics.

Mainstream media is having difficulty grasping the overall magnitude of the situation. The problem is compounded by ignorance and short-term self-interest. The pursuit of wealth and political interests hinders the crucial action for survival. 

It is universally believed that a pragmatic makeover would be unworkable and costly. Disinformation to protect economic activity to a sufficient scale will no doubt will be made in defence.

Millions are starving, and billions are malnourished. Population growth sparks both internal and international conflict. It, in turn, is exacerbated by climate change driven by an ever-higher global average temperature.

Recognising that many readers of this publication are tired of religion, I will try to adhere to a more realistic and robust approach to the need for communal gathering and worship. Local churches in the past served in much the same way as the internet does today. The priest would gather information and pass on techniques and skills as members shared them. 

Food supply is not guaranteed, and seeds will be scarce. Survival and not money will be the issue of the day. For peace and comfort, resident clergy will need to monitor needs and keep records of vulnerable people. It will need stoic and robust leaders; remember, Western civilisation has its roots in church life and its scriptural admonitions.

 I had a great day yesterday. I spent the day childminding for John and Liza. Most of the day, I spent lazing in the sun. The sky was interspersed with massive white cumulonimbus clouds floating within a clear blue sky. I so enjoy watching those huge, towering clouds. I must have spent two hours in full sun; I am surprised how little I got sunburnt, just turned brown.

A chicken roving for titbits on the lawn made me think of Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the American soldiers. A shocking episode and disrespect for life followed their departure. As the chicken stabbed at the occasional insect, I wondered what life was worth anyway. I acknowledge that evolution in its wisdom provided for the restraint and control of living matter by benefitting the next level on the food chain. 

Owing to our advanced and acquired skills, we humans have divorced ourselves from natural biological diversity. Upon this planet, we are nothing else but aliens intent upon mindless self-destruction and at the same time having nowhere else to go. 

The United Nations body for assessing climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reported that the Earth is warmer than in 125,000 years. Human-generated greenhouse gases are without a doubt driving extreme weather conditions, but nations, they claim, can still prevent the worst impacts. 

I wonder if this claim could be valid. We, humans, are entirely dependent upon the diversity of living matter for our food. Everything is co-dependent and may take aeons for the natural world to adapt to the rapid change demanded. A flooded or exhausted soil cannot be expected to produce food in quantities needed to feed the world population today.

Could this rapid change in the environment and unintelligent human behaviour be part of a natural destiny for the planet? 

 Having seen all the discussions about vaccines' pros and cons, I need to relate a tale about my own experience. 

I have a long history of eye problems resulting in regular encounters with ophthalmic surgeons. Shortly before leaving South Africa, my opthalmologist suggested changing my current pressure regulating drops to a new product called latanoprost. 

That seemed innocent enough for the first few months. Later, I began to notice a black dot in the central vision of both eyes. The disc started to grow in size. I found that quite disturbing and was later introduced to the Victoria Eye Hospital in Hereford. 

My eyes were examined by several doctors who were conspicuously unable to identify the cause or condition. Since the problem was in both eyes and had followed the change in medication, I suggested that the new drops may be the cause. In most cases, it invited a rude response, "Millions of people are using these drops; why should you be any different?" or some similar interjection.

This situation continued for some time, with my vision becoming evermore obscured. I began to realise that my future was in jeopardy. Being newly settled in Britain, I had to support myself and Myrtle for five years. All this activity occurred before my diagnosis of terminal bowel and liver cancer.  

Finally, I was interviewed by the senior doctor at the clinic, who strongly disagreed with my presumptions and sent me off with no plausible diagnosis.  Three weeks later, I received a letter instructing me to discontinue the drops or I would go blind.

Numerous tests and injections followed, but I was never informed of the outcome. Later, after some extensive research, I discovered that one percent of latanoprost users might have the same experience.

It took fully three to four years for my eyes to recover. All lamp posts were buckled, church towers crumpled, and colours disrupted. Thankfully, my sight is good now and even better after having a recent cornea transplant.

It seems clear now that it has been established that the SARS virus was modified in a laboratory. The COVID virus is not a natural worldly virus, and a rapidly concocted remedy could have long term unanticipated repercussions. 

 About four years ago, I had a nasty eye infection that left my right eye badly scarred. The senior doctor at the eye clinic suggested a replacement of the cornea. 

Owing to the arrival of COVID, I had not had an eye inspection for more than 18 months. Since no invitation to attend the eye clinic seemed forthcoming, I decided to take the initiative and request a review. 

Upon arrival at the clinic, I was seated in the waiting area when the senior doctor happened to pass through. On noticing me, his eyes lit up, "Ah, Mr Kearney, I have been thinking about you!" He asked if I would be available to receive a graft at short notice. Naturally, I agreed only to find that I was third in line. As it occurred, the first was sick, the second was undecided, and I had to make a quick decision.

On the transplant day, I was sitting alone in the waiting room and had time to ponder the circumstances. I wondered why I should have requested a check-up and had arrived just as the senior doctor was to pass through the room. At that point, the doctor's arrival was unusual for the many times I sat in that room; it had never occurred before. Due to his surprise at seeing me, it was apparent that the doctor had not anticipated my presence. 

Coincidence! I'm not so sure; there are too many mini incidents contributing to the conclusion. It is more like divine intervention; I have had comparable experiences before, continuing Psalm 116. "How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?"

Almost four weeks after the graft, I was experiencing some discomfort in the eye. I requested an emergency consultation and was interviewed by a doctor who, coincidentally, had been present during the procedure. The doctor was ecstatic upon examining my eye and could not believe the new cornea insertion had made such astonishing progress to repair vision with no sign of rejection. It turned out that the stitches caused the discomfort, but they had to remain for four months.

Having waited more than three years for the graft, I have to declare that I am more than delighted to have been the beneficiary. But first, and most sincerely, I am indebted to the donor of the cornea.

 Humankind emerged from within the animal realm about two million years ago. Whatever the reason for the deviation, Homo Habilis became aware that it was an exception and differed from the beasts then populating the earth. Christians believe that it was a God-inspired event and enabled the newly fledged species to cultivate mental and physical skills. 

Homo Erectus followed 0.5 million years later and morphed into Homo Sapiens, or the intelligent version of humankind. Further enlightenment of the masses followed. The 17th and 18th centuries intellectual era emphasised the supremacy of reason and sensory evidence being the source of knowledge. Tragically and possibly, it is not what God intended; God is now the exception. 

Aliens, we seek them here, we seek them there, but there is nothing more alien than the human species. While the belief in God makes no sense to many, denial of God is the denial of humanity. The preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that religious instinct is fundamental and biologically grounded in all humans. The alien civilisation has covertly displaced God assumed power and mismanaged its destiny. 

The earth's soil is exhausted, drained of nutrients and resources without conscience. Aliens pollute the air they breathe, swim in their muck and drink their waste contaminated water. Lacking essential nutrition while seeking pleasure, they become obese and plagued or weakened by many co-morbidities.

The current alien pursuit is pleasure, unrequited gain and profit cunningly disguised by deceit and deception. Dostoievski commented that tolerance would reach such a level that intelligent people will stop thinking of offending imbeciles.

Aliens have no claim to this planet. At the same time, having nowhere else to go, they defile, rape the world, and deny God. Anything scriptural may repulse an alien. The earth will be here long after all is trashed, and eviction is complete.

The end is near; there is much to fear.