We are all more ignorant than any of us realize. Yet, we all have a potential for more understanding and intelligence than we realize, or believe. The legitimate pursuits of civilization will eventually reveal the destiny of mankind.

Whether this is all there is, “here today, gone tomorrow,” or we have eternal life in our future; our only option is the same. We should legitimately get the most out of life. The most influential thing to any of us is everybody else. There is nothing more stimulating than other people. That is why we are so enrapt with dramas, television, and our involvement in the lives of others, whether fictional or realistic.

We all want to be appreciated and loved by others. We want the respect of others. The more people you like, see as good, or of beautiful character, the happier you will be. The more people you see as hateful, evil, worthless and deplorable, (I couldn’t resist using that D word) the unhappier you will be. You can live in a happy, fruitful, mutually beneficial world, or a hateful, negative, doomed world of worthlessness. It’s up to you. You can discover either one you wish to experience.

You don’t have to see the good side of a crazed murderer. There is evil in the world; but we must not allow ourselves to become so preoccupied with it that we fail to see life in all of its wonderful manifestations. I recall a song lyric sung by Johnny Mercer from a few years back: “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, have faith in the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. in between,”

If we have a life beyond earth, our life here on earth is but a wink of the eye in the eternity of our complete existence. This life must have a purpose. Perhaps it is to develop our appreciation and growth, to inevitably be part of our eternal lives. In this world, everything has a purpose. If we strive for domination here, seeking only what’s in it for me, we may fail to learn our true place in a community of humanity, in a future life of equality, with a true appreciation of one another, which is the secret of a good life here on earth.

Biblical stories have portrayed and personified evil as being concerned only for its own glorified self, to be superior to the madding deplorable horde. (There’s that D word again). If there is a life hereafter, we must learn here to content ourselves with being who we are, guided by a supreme intelligence. We are truly all superior to our mortal selves. Therein lies the crux of our being. To achieve contentment we must learn to forgive and to love one another.

We control the material world by understanding and manipulating its mechanical nature, which infallibly behaves in a logical manner. Engineers and scientists are our experts in the understanding we have acquired through the pursuit of logic. I recall years ago thinking that the biggest problems we have are the result of our failure to teach thorough courses in the science of logical thinking.

It seems now that logic is the fruit of that tree in Eden that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat of. It creates in us the idea that we are masters of our own fate. An acorn is incapable of logic, yet it produces a majestic oak tree. The world may be logical, but life, any life, is not. We will never understand life through logic. The most awesome miracles on this earth are you … me … and the acorn, and they have nothing to do with logic. We have been gifted to understand logic. We are the only earthly creatures who do. It is the god of physical science and mechanics, but it is to our own failure to believe that it is the answer to our life, our destiny, or our salvation. May God bless America.

Richard Westlund is a Collins resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com