Didn’t You Know
27 02 2017
One morning, after I had set out to find a unique meaning from three different sources of ‘truth,’ I was able to write a song within a matter of minutes once I gathered the materials. The three books that I used to represent the truths were Tao Te Ching, A Brief History of Time, and from Christianity, the Sermon on the Mount. The wish to discern from these wisdoms a unity, which I could then share in song was an experience in universal truth.
Interestingly, the translation of the Tao Te Ching which I am currently discovering, by Ursulsa K. Le Guin, (Shambala 1998) presents the ideas in Ch. 77 in a context quite like the manner in which I comprehend them. ‘The Way of heaven is a bow bent to shoot: its top end brought down, its lower end raised up. It brings the high down, lifts the low, takes from those who have, and give to those who have not.’
The common theme found in A Brief History of Time I found in Ch. 7 ‘Black Holes Ain’t so Black.’ ‘Similarly, suppose one starts with two boxes, one containing oxygen molecules, and the other containing nitrogen molecules. If one joins the boxes together and removes the intervening wall, the oxygen and the nitrogen molecules will start to mix. At a later time the most probable state would be a fairly uniform mixture of oxygen and nitrogen molecules throughout the two boxes.’ Hawking goes on to say that this state reflects more entropy than the initial state, yet this measure of randomness, as entropy is defined in statistical mechanics, becomes a necessary state when this mixture of elements is focused as in a bow, described in the Tao Te Ching. The tension built becomes the expressive force allowing the arrow to be propelled.
From Christianity, I used the King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 5:41-42. ‘And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away.’ These words of course are a strong parallel to ‘it brings the high down, lifts the low.’ As I write a thought which intrigues me is that from the land of science fiction, Douglas Adams has presented ’42’ as ‘the answer’ in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Finding connections, and bringing these three sets of ‘truths’ together across geographical distance, cultural differences, and chronological distinction has been a fulfilling journey.
As I mentioned earlier, the power of these truths became evident later that day, as I was busking on the Ave. in Seattle’s U-district. I had been receiving no donations, when my friend Free Eagle stopped by to chat. I asked if he would like to hear the song that the spirit had given to me that morning, and as I played, my guitar case begin to sparkle with coin for the first time that day. Free Eagle noticed also, and we both were amazed as spirit spoke through the people listening as they walked down the Ave listening to these truths be sung.
Born in Houston, bred in Nashville, I know a little ’bout the bible belt.
Raised to go to church on Sunday, wasn’t always how I felt.
I didn’t mind the suit coats ’cause I though the girls were pretty.
I could sit through pastor talks a lot ’til he started talking about my money.
‘Give to those that asketh, borrowers turn not away,’
about that time for peace of mind, I thought, there must be another way.
I heard over in China, of one they called ‘Old Master’,
I thought that he could give to me the answers I was after.
About the time I thought I might start to understand,
I heard some words, I thought for sure, were about the promised land.
‘The Tao of heaven is the bending of a bow,
the low become high, the high become low.’
Well, these are all old ideas, I must leave the past behind.
Read about some new ideas in A Brief History of Time.
To say ‘Black Holes Ain’t So Black’ really takes a brilliant mind.
Yet even Ockham’s razor can’t hide the truth from these lines:
two boxes joined together, results in mixing molecules
more entropy, less order, yet God is filling holes.
*Bunny Wailer’s album Liberation is an epic uplifting reggae classic, as well as a powerful demonstration of people’s solidarity.
