We inhabit a tiny sliver of space, a mere moment in time.
Our lifespan is but a tiny island amid a great sea.
Yet upon our brief lifespan depends everything that we have, and everything that we are.
It is in this brief moment that we must confront the problems that beset us.
Some are small and of little importance.
Others are of enormous magnitude, profound in their depth, and eternal in their significance.
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For years I have discussed in online forums the issues we face. Religion, science and society among others, are the stuff of the mind. But they affect our outward lives as well.
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I have learned the most from those who disagree with me, and so I seek in this forum to find good friends who will challenge my beliefs.
All I ask is that our exchanges be thoughtful, respectful, and constructive.
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Some will describe me as a political conservative, a religious fundamentalist, and even a humorist.
Perhaps I am all of those.
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I am biased. My experiences of 62 years make me so. I've done the soul searching, followed the open road, and sought myself in Buddhist temples in the orient, in sweatshops at arduous labor, and in a military career.
I've been there, done that. Some say that I finally found myself. Perhaps so.
But I am still curious, still seeking, still fascinated by the sunrise, by a bee, by the vast reaches displayed in the night sky.
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We live in dangerous times.
War looms as an ominous possibilty. The threat of famine has not been extinguished. And plagues yet stalk the earth. A global economic crisis, a natural disaster, or a technological mishap, and our lives can change forever in the blink of an eye.
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Amid this present darkness, we remain each of us, sovereign individuals, free to make our own choices among limited alternatives. And we remain, each of us, solely responsible for our own deeds or misdeeds, as the case may be.
In the end, one thing will matter above all else.
How did we treat each other?