Mystery, Humility and Wonder

With all the science and statistics gushing forth from the past century, celebrated by the bright light of the media, it seems to some that the answers to our most profound questions have been answered, and the doctors and engineers have everything under control. Although the rise of reason and humanism was a reaction against religious dogma, and has determined much about matter that calls into question a literal biblical explanation of things, this same reason and humanistic spirit has grown cocky, thinking it has solved everything, and all its conclusions are certain, beyond reproach, and now puts forth dogmatic proclamations of its own.

Well, I take exception with anyone who thinks they have definitively solved all the mysteries of life, and put forth their views as certain, whether it is from a religious or a scientific atheist viewpoint. For all our technological advances I feel humanity should now regain a sense of humility before the great mysteries that still remain, including our origins and spiritual nature, and the ultimate meaning and outcome of life here on earth. Instead of crowing about our superiority over all on this planet, perhaps it is in order to regain a sense of awe and wonder before the sublime, like the stars, the seasons and the magnificence of nature, which all came into being with no human input or intervention.

Perhaps it is also in order to develop a new philosophy of reason and science that acknowledges both its strengths and weaknesses in determining truth in different domains. In my view, science is the best way to determine objective world truths about matter, but it falls short in the subjective world, which is qualitative and not easily quantified, and is best approached with myth, allegory and poetry. It is this subjective realm that is full of mystery and magic, and is what alchemy, the kundalini and Arthurian myths are referring to and where they are valid.

You can also check out my photography, poetry and songs at http://www.kloschinsky.com.

In Song and in Spirit,

Paul Kloschinsky