Biology

Spirituality has been on my mind lately. Which is interesting because, personally, I don't feel the need for any form of spirituality in my life. It is not exactly that I know there is no God. I don't know. Some people would classify this as Agnostic. Agnosticism, however, seems to imply some deep wrestling with the eternal question. For me it isn't as much about whether God (god?) exists or not but whether I care about his existence.

There are some down sides to leaving religion behind though. For instance, believing in biology leaves much to be desired. Biology itself is lovely and quirky, full of surprises. Take the recurrent laryngeal nerve. But for all of its beauty it is fairly shallow. Believing in biology gives no real hope. There is no reason to believe that life or the future has to tip the balance in favour of happiness for any one person. Or that any written rule or fate would ensure that a person is provided with another chance at happiness. This belief is often commonly held in North America even without basis. And perhaps, as humans, we need to believe in this ultimate "righting" in order to function. Maybe that is where I falter, as a realist. We are not owed a happy ending. Our culture of plenty and self-fulfillment seems to teach that we are. Ask all the people who never had a chance, those kids-starving-in-africa who are not ever going to be able to reach out to God to comfort them when they succumb to horrible malnutrition. God is a concept that works out better for those with opportunities. Adjusting to this type of reality is not necessarily easy. The source of hope for those without spirituality can seem a mystery.