Nothing is random

[Guest guest]

This may not seem relevant to the topic of this list, but to me it

relates to every topic of conversation, and always leaves me speechless.

Stu

------------

By Mark Helprin from the novel " Winters Tale " :

 

Nothing is random, nor will anything ever be, whether a long string of

perfectly blue days that begin and end in golden dimness, the most

seemingly chaotic political acts, the rise of a great city, the

crystalline structure of a gem that has never seen the light, the

distributions of fortune, what time the milkman gets up, the position

of the electron, or the occurrence of one astonishingly frigid winter

after another. Even electrons, supposedly the paragons of

unpredictability, are tame and obsequious little creatures that rush

around at the speed of light, going precisely where they are supposed

to go. They make faint whistling sounds that when apprehended in

varying combinations are as pleasant as the wind flying through a

forest, and they do exactly as they are told. Of this, one can be

certain. And yet there is a wonderful anarchy, in that the milkman

chooses when to arise, the rat picks the tunnel into which he will

dive when the subway comes rushing down the track from Borough hall,

and the snowflake will fall as it will. How can this be? If nothing is

random, and everything is predetermined, how can there be free will?

The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is

determined, or was determined, or will be determined. No matter, it

happened all at once, in less than an instant, and time was invented

because we cannot comprehend in one glance the enormous and detailed

canvas that we have been given- so we track it, in linear fashion,

piece by piece. Time, however, can be easily overcome; not by chasing

the light, but by standing back far enough to see it all at once. The

universe is still and complete. Everything that ever was, is;

everything that ever will be, is- and so on, in all possible

combinations. Though in perceiving it we imagine that it is in motion,

and unfinished, it is quite finished and quite astonishingly

beautiful. In the end, or, rather, as things really are, any event, no

matter how small, is intimately and sensibly tied to all others. All

rivers run full to the sea; those who are apart are brought together;

the lost ones are redeemed; the dead come back to life; the perfectly

blue days have begun and ended in golden dimness continue, immobile

and accessible; and, when all is perceived in such a way as to obviate

time, justice becomes apparent not as something that will be, but as

something that is.

[Guest guest]

On 5/15/06, stuartkfmn <stuartkfmn wrote:

> This may not seem relevant to the topic of this list, but to me it

> relates to every topic of conversation, and always leaves me speechless.

> Stu

> ------------

> By Mark Helprin from the novel " Winters Tale " :

>

> Nothing is random, nor will anything ever be, whether a long string of

> perfectly blue days that begin and end in golden dimness, the most

> seemingly chaotic political acts, the rise of a great city, the

> crystalline structure of a gem that has never seen the light, the

> distributions of fortune, what time the milkman gets up, the position

> of the electron, or the occurrence of one astonishingly frigid winter

> after another. Even electrons, supposedly the paragons of

> unpredictability, are tame and obsequious little creatures that rush

> around at the speed of light, going precisely where they are supposed

> to go. They make faint whistling sounds that when apprehended in

> varying combinations are as pleasant as the wind flying through a

> forest, and they do exactly as they are told. Of this, one can be

> certain. And yet there is a wonderful anarchy, in that the milkman

> chooses when to arise, the rat picks the tunnel into which he will

> dive when the subway comes rushing down the track from Borough hall,

> and the snowflake will fall as it will. How can this be? If nothing is

> random, and everything is predetermined, how can there be free will?

> The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is

> determined, or was determined, or will be determined. No matter, it

> happened all at once, in less than an instant, and time was invented

> because we cannot comprehend in one glance the enormous and detailed

> canvas that we have been given- so we track it, in linear fashion,

> piece by piece. Time, however, can be easily overcome; not by chasing

> the light, but by standing back far enough to see it all at once. The

> universe is still and complete. Everything that ever was, is;

> everything that ever will be, is- and so on, in all possible

> combinations. Though in perceiving it we imagine that it is in motion,

> and unfinished, it is quite finished and quite astonishingly

> beautiful. In the end, or, rather, as things really are, any event, no

> matter how small, is intimately and sensibly tied to all others. All

> rivers run full to the sea; those who are apart are brought together;

> the lost ones are redeemed; the dead come back to life; the perfectly

> blue days have begun and ended in golden dimness continue, immobile

> and accessible; and, when all is perceived in such a way as to obviate

> time, justice becomes apparent not as something that will be, but as

> something that is.

>

 

Thank you Stu for sharing this beautiful passage.

 

In the silence of God's Eye

turning

yet not-turning

all is comprehended

 

And thus

what we see

is the vastness

of our vision.

 

*We* choose

and choosing thus

we see what we have chosen.

 

 

Bill