From a young age my favourite animal was always the polar bear. I’m not sure why, but I always thought it was cool, and Canadian. But this powerful apex predator has fallen to number two on my list and replaced by the fat, ugly, and sometimes smelly, Elephant Seal. For the last few years I have photographed the elephant seal on the beaches of Pt. Reyes, California, and watched them for hours during their two months of birthing and mating on the same beaches, year after year. As I’ve learned about them, I’ve become enamoured with this animal that can only be considered a display of God’s sense of humour.
These animals are as interesting as they are unusual. The Elephant Seal mating season begins in January and the males make their way down from Alaska to a series of the same coastal California beaches they journey to every year. The females make an equally impressive journey from the warmer waters of Hawaii where they’ve spent the last nine months. They will return to these same beaches to give birth to the pups that have been gestating since last year’s fruitful mating season.
You can see the moms and their suckling pups all over certain beaches, with the blood stained sand bearing witness to the violence of birth in nature. The pups feed for two months before they are on their way into the ocean and do their best to dodge the enormous, larger males getting ready to impregnate the worn down females for yet another year.
The males are relatively solitary and bear no responsibility in the caring of their offspring. They are only interested in displays of dominance, which in turn will give them control over the largest harems of the population.
An alpha male can impregnate up to 500 females in a season and many of the larger ones have harems of up to 200 females. Smaller males scurry about the perimeter of the beaches in the hopes they can find just one lone, willing female to mate with. It is a hierarchical display of nature’s survival of the fittest. The strongest and most fit will breed the most in order to strengthen the species.
As March nears, the males enter the ocean where they will remain for the next 9 months straight, as they make their way back to Alaska. Similarly, the females leave and head towards Hawaii, carrying their newly fertilized egg which will grow into next years pup as they spend all the upcoming months in the water feeding and putting on lots of fat. The cycle continues and the Elephant Seal “circle of life” continues for another year.
Some put their faith in the magical powers of mindless mutations as the cause of these “miraculous” occurrences in nature. That sort of faith springs forth from the depths of self-delusion and the worship of nature as a god in and of itself. Modern day pantheism is indeed, alive and well. These curious creatures display the behaviours they were created to show, and to point towards the imaginative powers of a magnificent Creator. How do the salmon find their way back to their birthplace after years in the ocean? How do the monarchs migrate to the same areas of Canada and Mexico with no prior knowledge of their ancestors birthplace? And how do these giant seals travel thousands of miles only to return to the same beach year after year? The incomprehensibility of their innate behaviours points to something beyond ourselves, greater and more complex than anything we can imagine. They point to a Creator and Designer who certainly had fun with this one!
-It is now plain to any rational observer, that the government and those in authority, prefer people to be physically weak and mentally ill. Society certainly has an abundance of both.
-Abortion: women exterminating their own children for whim and convenience.
It is hard to go anywhere, or read anything these days without someone somewhere blathering on about equality and how important it is to be striving for equality in such an unfair and uncaring world. It has to be said: the world is indeed unfair and uncaring, AND the notion of equality is a complete myth, and an impossibility to achieve. It does not exist, and never will. If it actually did it exist, we would not have to hear about it incessantly by the malcontents who use it as a bludgeon and a weapon to coerce and control others.
Butterfly, butterfly, drift on the breeze;
For years now I’ve seen some of my favourite authors and leaders recommend the reading of Meditations by the stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Some have even gone so far as to say they reread this work every one to two years and advise others would be well served to do the same. Born out of the gnostic tradition, I’ve never found stoicism as a philosophy very interesting or compelling, but some of the writings can be helpful. So I decided it was time to read Aurelius’ famous Meditations.
It is often asked that, ‘if God is real, why does evil and suffering exist?‘ In other words, why would a good and loving God permit the cruelties and sufferings we witness on a daily basis? That those who reject and mock the very notion of God would think that this same God should and would create a world to their liking, and let them live lives with not even a passing thought towards their Creator, belies the nonsensical nature of the question they ask.
For those that know me, they will generally know of my total opposition to alcohol consumption and its regular use as a recreational drug. For almost 40 years now I have made statements that have raised eyebrows and made people think I was crazy. It’s cost me friendships and not something I’ve ever taken lightly. I’ve probably read more about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain than 99.9% of the population. My opinions are strong and sometimes unintentionally offensive, (especially to drinkers who quickly get defensive), yet all of them are based on the science, studies, and professionals who research the most common psychoactive drug used worldwide. It’s my opinion that most people have been easily brainwashed into our drinking culture will little to no thoughts of its harmful effects, and been encouraged to partake in the adolescent “rite of passage” of alcohol experimentation at a time in their brain development when the substance is its most addictive. It’s hard to convince people of anything these days that they won’t let themselves believe; even in the face of the strongest evidence. I can only hope for those that stumble upon this post that the data presented is at least a little compelling in moving the reader to consider pouring their favourite drug down the drain for good.
Alcohol is a leading 
Heavy drinkers, even while building their tolerance to alcohol in the short-term, 
Ultimately, alcohol is used by the weak; those who need a crutch, those who can’t cope or produce on their own. They drink because their life is missing something they think they will find in the bottom of a bottle. They can’t produce happiness on their own. They can’t produce confidence on their own. They can’t produce contentment on their own. They can’t have “fun” in a sober state. So they turn to a drug to produce the feelings that they cannot, rather than do the hard work of improving themselves and that which is necessary to construct a full, fun-filled life. There are no shortcuts. Alcohol is not a shortcut. It produces the illusion of happiness, of fun, of confidence, of sexiness; only to leave those who rely on it worse off when its temporary, fleeting effects wear off. The continued reliance on a substance in order to find peace or fulfillment or happiness or whatever an empty soul is yearning to find, will ultimately render its user subservient to its addictive power.
There is no prettier time of year when the joyful exuberance of summertime gives way to the aging blaze of colour in autumn; before the grey and cold winter signifies another year is done. I’ve gone for a number of long walks just to soak in the beauty of fall. Few things uplift the soul like colour on the trees and sunshine on the face.