Facebookin'

My daughter-in-law asked me recently whether or not I was on Facebook. I wasn't sure since I've signed up for several networking things so I took a look and found that I was not. I just signed up yesterday and already have found many, many friends. This thing is addictive though and it seems to have taken the place of private chats on Yahoo Messenger or Google.

Since the Internet has become a very weird place, it is always something of a risk to put information out there about oneself. I just recommend to others that you enter nothing that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper. Bill O'Reilly commented on his show last night that the notion of privacy in public is now nonexistent in the USA and probably the world. Privacy violations on our own property are still prosecutable but everything outside is anybody's guess.

I found a few McCurdy cousins on Facebook that I would not have been in touch with otherwise since they are in S. Calif. Also re-established a contact with a cousin in Fairbanks, AK. The Internet has allowed me to do marvelous things with genealogy research!

I just wish that the perverts and crooks could somehow be prevented from using it to endanger our children and to cheat people. Every new communications tool has immediately been latched onto by undesirable elements.

A Year Later - A Believer!

My last (and only) post entitled "Why is There Air?" covered my questions about the Creator. I have been working diligently on this question for most of my life and hadn't quite made the leap of faith to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. My youngest son is a minister and he has willingly discussed my questions but did express on occasion that he was worried for my salvation. I think he has been praying for me for a long time, as have a few close friends.

Even though I have read literally hundreds of Christian books, and books on other faith systems, as well as exploring the Bible at great length, I always have had a problem making the leap to believe in the virgin birth and the resurrection. Both seemed highly improbable to me and both are common to several other religions including Mithraism. The myth of the dead and risen hero is common, as exhibited by the Arthurian legend.

Amazingly, what finally tipped the scales for me was Judaism. Somehow, we never question the happenings in the Old Testament with God's Chosen People. One day recently I had a sudden epiphany that the stories of God's power in the Old Testament are just as improbable on the surface as those in the New Testament. Yet, millions of people believe without question in Moses leading his people to the Promised Land, the giving of the Ten Commandments, God speaking from the burning bush, etc. If that is so, then it should follow that God's manifestations in the New Testament are also true. Shazam! I got it and am now happy to acknowledge Jesus Christ as my King and Savior. Whew! It has been a long trip. I look forward to seeing my dear departed ones in Heaven, but not too soon.

Why Is There Air?

For those who are old enough to remember the early days of Bill Cosby's comedy albums (those things on LP records), there was a bit entitled "Why Is There Air?"  To me, this is a shorthand way of saying what most people think about, at least occasionally; who are we, where did we come from, why are we here, where will our identity go after life leaves this carbon construct called a body? Many people answer these questions by subscribing to faith systems that purport to give answers for all time, regardless of contrary evidence provided by hard science. Others choose to believe that everything is random, which to me is just as unlikely to be completely true as the faith-based answers. Each may have some part of the truth but neither has all of the answers. Isn't it ironic that this need to know has driven humans to both the best and the worst behaviors?

Of course, my love of genealogy research is a part of the search for "why."  It is interesting to look back over my ancestors, their appearance, their physical and mental health, their intelligence and talents, their preferences, and realize that at least some of these qualities came to me genetically while others came from transferral of knowledge and behaviors that carries through generations. 

For instance, I bear a remarkable resemblance to my maternal Great-Great Grandmother. DNA research tells us that I received my mtDNA directly from her, unchanged, and she received it from her direct maternal line as well. I always wondered why I looked SO much like my mother's sister and her daughters. The answer is that we all have exactly the same mtDNA. Sadly, my sister and I had only sons as did our cousins so our direct mtDNA line is extinct. But, there were other daughters of this Great-Great Grandmother who may have had daughters who would pass on the mtDNA. I am researching these lines to perhaps find these cousins who share my mtDNA. (My son's daughter carries her own mother's mtDNA line).

So, why is there air? I guess at this point in my search for truth I would have to say I believe that there is a Great Architect of the Universe, call it God, or Allah, or what you will. It is all the same. The sciences of chemistry, physics, geology, archaeology, and mathematics, among others, have helped us to realize that our universe and our planet are designed with the absolutely right components for carbon-based life to evolve and be sustained. This is no small thing and could not have happened randomly. I'm sure the Creator had a terrific time with this design and construction project! Whether C. is still looking over our shoulder and guiding the happenings on Earth is far more difficult to know or imagine. Only in death will we know for sure...maybe.