THE GREATEST POWER IN THE UNIVERSE

So there are so many powers in the known universe that we all can come up with at least one:  love, religion, nuclear energy, electricity, gravity – the list is very, very long.

But here is my theory:  the greatest power in the universe is actually Time.  Because all of the other powers I’ve named, from love to gravity, can all be changed or controlled in one way or another.  Love can fade, religion can falter, nuclear energy can be simply not employed, electricity is a mystery all in itself and must be manufactured, even gravity has been found to be repelled by anti-gravity thingies.

Now we come to time.  It simply cannot be stopped.  At least outside of sci-fi stories.  One can stop a clock, one can turn the clock’s measure of time backward or forward (which is simply a type of pretending), or one can accept the fact that time is inexorable.  When one comes to terms with that, one can only then possibly use time to our advantage, to fill our allotted hours with fun and joy and happiness and giving.  Or utterly waste time until it is too late. 

Because, like many great powers, Time really does not care about us.  It can’t.  It is too busy just being.

LUCK AND GEOGRAPHY

One of the most interesting things about philosophy is that it really is not a rarefied study by briilliant people in book-lined rooms, it instead seems to be simply observation of the human condition as we ourselves experience it.

For instance, having been in a happy and devoted relationship for many decades, we have both been frequently asked 'how we did it?'  How did we create and sustain a committed relationship for so very long?

After some thought, it occurred to me was that the simple answer is 'luck and geography'.  Just that simple.  For instance, if we had been born thousands of miles apart, we quite likely would never have met.  But luckily, we were born in the same area, and at a time when we were both without someone special in our life, an acquaintance of mine introduced me to his best friend and that was that.  Connection.  Luck.  Geography.