(dad) Re: Shad Fishing and God
> Hi Dad, Isn't the weather WONDERFUL???
YES!!
> Me and Gene went down to Fredericksburg to fish in the
> Rappahannock River Saturday evening and from 4:30 am to
> about 3:00 pm Sunday. It was soooo peaceful, beautiful,
> lovely, with tons of herons, kayakers every now and then,
> other serious fisherman here and there, hot sun, beautiful
> breeze, and lots of shad and herring. We've been eating the
> most DELICIOUS shad roe, and fish, all week. Sounds like
> your kind of vacation, almost (that is, if you knew how to
> fish. It helps to have someone who knows fish habits, types
> of lures, how to untangle string, can teach you how to cast,
> what equipment you need, etc.).
You are lucky to have that in Gene. That sounds like a simply superb couple days. I never fished, (well, i did a little bit with my dad as a boy, but he didn't know how either. we never even got a bite) but i used to crab from my boat. I used to get that kind of keen quiet joy out on the bay on my sailboat. One trip i will never forget, Glen Newby and i went off for a few days, it was gray dawn in the fall, and a flight of geese flying south, hundreds of them, came honking down the bay, low over our heads, the only thing breaking the early morning silence. it was a magic moment. neither of us ever forgot that.
> I've been thinking lately how lucky we are to have a
> physicist for a father. I've also been thinking about God,
> the need of people for God, and how your whole life seems to
> be a kind of celebration of life itself, which might be the
> reason you haven't needed to believe there's a God. Or maybe
> it is BECAUSE you never believed in God that you've been
> able to take full advantage of the splendor of reality
> itself, without there having to be anything supernatural in
> the picture. And of course you have physics, which helps a
> lot. <<> in awe the magnificence of nature. Physics has filled my life with
> understanding and meaning and purpose. It's better than money,
> baseball, or religion. Its real and it is absolutely beautiful. more
> beautiful than any painting or music.I have been lucky to be a
> physicist.
> Einstein believed in God, though. I would have liked to
> have heard his ideas about that.
>
I doubt that he believed in God. He was conscious of his importance, and was careful not to damage his usefulness by taking on unnecessary antagonisms. He fought racism, prejudice, and stupidity. I have never seen a flatout statement by Einstein that he believed in God, (and such a statement would also require a defintion of what "God" meant. Loads of Jews are atheisits and avoid knowing it by defining the concept down to meaninglessness. For instance, Ruth and Marty believe in God, but they laugh at the idea of a God who knows all, has any supernatural powers, can perform miracles, etc. So they sayvtheir god is nature, love, goodness, morality, tradition, Jewish history, conscience--all kinds of stuff every decent Jewish atheist believes in. most jews, when cornered, end up in that same avoidance mode.
> One of the advantages of being
> disorderly is that one is constantly making
> exciting discoveries.
> - A.A. Milne, 1882-1956 (who is one of my all-time favorite
> authors...I have many of his books)
that is a nice quote Liza! Winnie the Pooh!
> Via ovicipitum dura est.
> The way of the egghead is hard.
> - Adlai E. Stevenson, 1900-1965
This is one egghead (self described) who was soft boiled. The politicians of the Democratic Party were stuck with that superficially
appealing, popular jerk. He lost us a lot of elections--and deserved to lose them. dad
YES!!
> Me and Gene went down to Fredericksburg to fish in the
> Rappahannock River Saturday evening and from 4:30 am to
> about 3:00 pm Sunday. It was soooo peaceful, beautiful,
> lovely, with tons of herons, kayakers every now and then,
> other serious fisherman here and there, hot sun, beautiful
> breeze, and lots of shad and herring. We've been eating the
> most DELICIOUS shad roe, and fish, all week. Sounds like
> your kind of vacation, almost (that is, if you knew how to
> fish. It helps to have someone who knows fish habits, types
> of lures, how to untangle string, can teach you how to cast,
> what equipment you need, etc.).
You are lucky to have that in Gene. That sounds like a simply superb couple days. I never fished, (well, i did a little bit with my dad as a boy, but he didn't know how either. we never even got a bite) but i used to crab from my boat. I used to get that kind of keen quiet joy out on the bay on my sailboat. One trip i will never forget, Glen Newby and i went off for a few days, it was gray dawn in the fall, and a flight of geese flying south, hundreds of them, came honking down the bay, low over our heads, the only thing breaking the early morning silence. it was a magic moment. neither of us ever forgot that.
> I've been thinking lately how lucky we are to have a
> physicist for a father. I've also been thinking about God,
> the need of people for God, and how your whole life seems to
> be a kind of celebration of life itself, which might be the
> reason you haven't needed to believe there's a God. Or maybe
> it is BECAUSE you never believed in God that you've been
> able to take full advantage of the splendor of reality
> itself, without there having to be anything supernatural in
> the picture. And of course you have physics, which helps a
> lot. <<> in awe the magnificence of nature. Physics has filled my life with
> understanding and meaning and purpose. It's better than money,
> baseball, or religion. Its real and it is absolutely beautiful. more
> beautiful than any painting or music.I have been lucky to be a
> physicist.
> Einstein believed in God, though. I would have liked to
> have heard his ideas about that.
>
I doubt that he believed in God. He was conscious of his importance, and was careful not to damage his usefulness by taking on unnecessary antagonisms. He fought racism, prejudice, and stupidity. I have never seen a flatout statement by Einstein that he believed in God, (and such a statement would also require a defintion of what "God" meant. Loads of Jews are atheisits and avoid knowing it by defining the concept down to meaninglessness. For instance, Ruth and Marty believe in God, but they laugh at the idea of a God who knows all, has any supernatural powers, can perform miracles, etc. So they sayvtheir god is nature, love, goodness, morality, tradition, Jewish history, conscience--all kinds of stuff every decent Jewish atheist believes in. most jews, when cornered, end up in that same avoidance mode.
> One of the advantages of being
> disorderly is that one is constantly making
> exciting discoveries.
> - A.A. Milne, 1882-1956 (who is one of my all-time favorite
> authors...I have many of his books)
that is a nice quote Liza! Winnie the Pooh!
> Via ovicipitum dura est.
> The way of the egghead is hard.
> - Adlai E. Stevenson, 1900-1965
This is one egghead (self described) who was soft boiled. The politicians of the Democratic Party were stuck with that superficially
appealing, popular jerk. He lost us a lot of elections--and deserved to lose them. dad
posted by Liza May at 7:48 PM
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