Divine Neutrality

On my daily walk along Joy Road I pass many scenes. One of them is shown in the image. Another, further along the road, is policed by a black and white dog. My neighbor tells me he is a Border Collie. As I walk by he barks at me without stop as if to say, “If I weren’t on this chain I’d come at you and sever your foot from your leg.”

I, of course, am happy that the chain restrains his turf.

One day, as my walk brought me near, I could see this dog scampering around his usual territory. But, now, he was obviously free of the chain. I got worried and looked around for a stick to defend myself. Fido, oblivious, just cavorted merrily, snapping at flies, running frenetically here and there without a sound out of him. He stopped for a moment, looked at me, and then returned to his play. No barking. No attack. He had no interest in me!

And so I came to understand what Fido was saying when he barked at me.

“Hey you - anybody - come over here and get this chain off my neck.”

Of course any dog lover would assume this from the outset. Apparently I lacked the insights that dog lovers have. I have not paid attention to the language of animal behavior. It’s a failing.

Before this stepping stone suffered its blow it read:

RESTRAINT IS VALIANT

It takes valor to hold your tongue. The common view is that to do battle is valiant. But, in truth, to refrain from battle is valianter! The reward is the husbanding of precious life’s moments, as exemplified in the following story called “Righteous indignation is a temper tantrum.”

It’s Friday. Morning. The telephone rings. I answer it.

Caller:

“Marvin Chester? This is Dr. Andersen’s office.
You have an appointment at 10 am next Tuesday.
I need to cancel it.
I’ll put you down for 2 pm.
Do you have any problem with this?”

I am offended by the words and the tone of voice. I think of answering:

“Is this a command from an imperial highness? When you break an appointment, common courtesy dictates an apology. And a request for another appointment. Not a summons to appear. Not a recital of when audience will next be granted. I’d like to speak to Dr. Andersen. Please have her call me.”

That’s what went through my mind but it didn’t pass my lips. Instead I answered:

“O.K. 2 pm it is.”

On hanging up the phone I rejoice in the blessings of perspective. By restraining my outrage I bought myself perhaps hours, if not days, of precious life moments that would otherwise have been wasted in the fruitless instruction of others on how to behave.
________________________

This stepping stone once read:

RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION IS A TEMPER TANTRUM.

What does the heart do?
It is the pump that drives the blood to circulate.

What is the reason that blood circulates?
To bring nourishment (oxygen) to every cell of the body. The blood gets the oxygen from the lungs and delivers it to the cells all over the body.

Happily the internet is full of very fine expositions on the workings of the heart. Listed below are my favorites. They are marvellously informative.

In all of them the heart is shown as it physically appears in the body. The blood-carrying vessels are seen to intertwine commensurate with a cross over between opposite sides of the heart. But the heart cross over paths are not inherent to the design of the system. They are an artifact of packaging - of the plumbing. For its pumping function the packaging is advantageous. In the motion diagram image the package is unraveled to unveil the elemental simplicity of the circulation’s design. It is just a single loop.

That this transportation system exists inside the body is not intuitive knowledge. It had to be discovered. The circulation of the blood was apparently understood in China by 300 BC. It was described by the Islamic physician, Ibn Al-Nafis in 1242. But it wasn’t appreciated in the Western World until 1628 when William Harvey rediscovered and publicized it in England.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_pumping.html

http://childrensheartinstitute.org/educate/heartwrk/bloodflw.htm

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