Atheist inspirational prose.
I just finished reading Richard Dawkins' latest book, The God Delusion, and was happy to see that he ended on an inspiration, echoing Carl Sagan. His last section, The Mother of All Burkas, uses the burka as an oh-so-appropriate metaphor to explain what a tiny fraction of reality we've evolved to see with our brains shaped by natural selection. Science, he suggests, offers a way to tear open the eye-slit of the burka and see more of reality. His main example is that we see only visible light with our eyes, which represents a microscopic fraction of the entire electromagnetic spectrum - and science has provided us tools like the x-ray telescope, ultraviolet lens filters, and infrared cameras to peer deeper into the reality of the universe surrounding us. He also suggests to us that understanding the dramatic improbability and finity of our lives should make them all the more exhilarating and precious to us. I could hardly agree more. I was very moved by this book, especially the final chapter. I highly recommend it.
After finishing, I couldn't help writing this:
Why I Do Not Fear Death
To me, the dozen billion years
(a time scale we can't comprehend)
that passed before my day of birth
give comfort for the coming end.
To know that not one atom in
my body at the age of five
remains within me still today
changes the meaning of "alive."
And all the billions yet to pass
after my carcass has decayed
are bookends for a single life
so precious, by their vastness, made.
After finishing, I couldn't help writing this:
Why I Do Not Fear Death
To me, the dozen billion years
(a time scale we can't comprehend)
that passed before my day of birth
give comfort for the coming end.
To know that not one atom in
my body at the age of five
remains within me still today
changes the meaning of "alive."
And all the billions yet to pass
after my carcass has decayed
are bookends for a single life
so precious, by their vastness, made.