The first, the earliest discussion of The Beginning is an old and ancient song found in a tome known as the Old Testament.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3  ¶ And God said, Let there be light: 2 Cor. 4.6 and there was light.
4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. http://www.bartleby.com/108/01/1.html#S1

The second discussion of The Beginning is a poem written two thousand years ago by a man named John.

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2  The same was in the beginning with God.
3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  http://www.bartleby.com/108/43/1.html

The third discussion of the Beginning involves entries in the diary of the First Man and is a little more than one hundred years old.

MONDAY.--This new creature with the long hair is a good deal in the way. It is always hanging around and following me about. I don't like this; I am not used to company. I wish it would stay with the other animals. . . . Cloudy today, wind in the east; think we shall have rain. . . . WE? Where did I get that word-- the new creature uses it.

TUESDAY.--Been examining the great waterfall. It is the finest thing on the estate, I think. The new creature calls it Niagara Falls-- why, I am sure I do not know. Says it LOOKS like Niagara Falls. That is not a reason, it is mere waywardness and imbecility. I get no chance to name anything myself. The new creature names everything that comes along, before I can get in a protest. And always that same pretext is offered--it LOOKS like the thing. There is a dodo, for instance. Says the moment one looks at it one sees at a glance that it "looks like a dodo." It will have to keep that name, no doubt. It wearies me to fret about it, and it does no good, anyway. Dodo! It looks no more like a dodo than I do.

FRIDAY. The naming goes recklessly on, in spite of anything I can do. I had a very good name for the estate, and it was musical and pretty-- GARDEN OF EDEN. Privately, I continue to call it that, but not any longer publicly. The new creature says it is all woods and rocks and scenery, and therefore has no resemblance to a garden. Says it LOOKS like a park, and does not look like anything BUT a park. Consequently, without consulting me, it has been new-named NIAGARA FALLS PARK. This is sufficiently high-handed, it seems to me. And already there is a sign up:   http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/marktwain/ExtractsFromAdamsDiary/Chap1.html

My friend Jason writes the most wonderful blog; a second post in his series. http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/j/a/jasoneverettmiller/2009/12/use-your-illusion-ii.php?ref=reccafe

And MBH COMMENTS. Anyway, MBH gives me a link and sends me over to UTube to listen to a man by the name of Alan Watts. He is a cleric of sorts. He could have had long discussions with Gandhi since he is an expert in many languages, many religions, many cultures. The link gave me ten minutes of Alan's spiel but I stayed for two hours plus to listen to many segments of his teachings at the great church called UTube.

Watts speaks of the 'Ocean Effect'. When a human child is born (or any babe or pup really) it cannot distinguish between self and the rest of 'the world' or environment around it.

The first thing that the parents wish to teach the babe, the innocent and sinless babe, is the difference between the self and the rest of the world.

It took me back to a Socratic principle involving education. Education comes from a Greek word meaning to 'lead out'.  The concept was based on a tenet that we are born knowing everything. We just forgot it all in the midst of the hubbub and ado of normal life.  A teacher's job is to help the individual find the knowledge deep down inside that was always there.

The word. The word is a magic concept to me. The word is really a tool. The word in this context separates us from the rest of the flora and fauna around us; individually and as a species. Oh I know that birds may have scores of sounds with which communication is made. Hell a monkey or ape might be taught the 'meanings' of hundreds of words. But I am speaking of words here as categorizing techniques.

Think about the Pacific Ocean as a concept.  Look at a map of the world, a globe works better of course. As a child, I could not see where exactly the Pacific Ocean began and where it ended.  Since the non-ocean, or the land represents only two thirds of the surface of the planet--discounting fresh water lakes--it really looks like one ocean. But we have the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean along with many other 'seas'. Certainly the Caribbean knows not the difference between itself and the Atlantic Ocean.  Hell at Cape Horn I do not think that the waters see the difference either.

And think about the continents. Where the hell does Europe end and Asia begin? Never understood that really.  Looks like one big tract of land to me.

And India is a sub continent I am told. Hell, at least there seems to be more of a demarcation so to speak as far as this piece of land merging into the Eurasian Continent, than anything separating Europe from Asia. Hell ask any Russian about this.

I could always see a clear demarcation between North & South America. But how many people understand that most encyclopedias link Central America with North the America continent instead of the South American continent?  As well as all these islands in the Caribbean.

Oh and look at the globe, I thought, in the first grade. Africa looks like a puzzle piece that would fit right into South America. Well some other first graders in the fifties saw the same thing I did and fifty years later we have the Gaiea Theory. The theory that we have shifting continental shelves and that at one time, hell many times, all of the earth's land mass somehow hung together in the midst of this one ocean.

I wish to get back to Twain though. Nietzsche loved to read him. Just loved him. Now he was a German and a genius. It should not be that incongruous however. I mean I learned a long time ago that the Ruskie just loved 'Our Town'. And I am talking Stalin Russia here. Ha

But Nietzsche would note, why has not this man read anything? The Kraut loved Twain but was mad because he felt that old Sam Clemons was not steeped enough in World Literature. But you see we have a problem here. Because if old Sam had been steeped in the literature of the European geniuses, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN MARK TWAIN. Americans as a group decided we would throw away the old things. And we would create our own art and literature.

Oh but Twain reveals something about himself here as well as secrets contained in the Bible. Twain had certainly read John and Genesis on several occasions as he might put it. He has Eve naming everything. I mean Eve would have had to tell her babies that they were no longer an internal organ of hers. Eve would have had to tell the younguns that they were separate and here is the breast from which you must receive sustenance.

Once you show the child that the breast is something 'else'; well you must also feel bound and determined to show the children that the 'object' over there is the wolf, and the other object is a tree and so on.

Watts is telling us that the noun is what separates us from our environment. That there is a level upon which we are one with the wolf and the tree and our fellow human being. Twain knew this. After all, Sam Clemons was the master of the noun and the verb and the extravagant adjectives and adverbs.

Watts promises that there is a place we can go to 'unlearn' some things. At least for awhile. That the wolf is part of us, that the tree is part of us and so forth.

Watts tells us that Jesus called himself the Son of Man. But Jesus never is recorded as saying that he is THE Son of God. The correct Greek translation is that:

Jesus is A Son of God. Now this is just my take, folks. I am not attempting to teach or prostilytise even if I knew how to spell it. I get little epiphanies from time to time. If I had had my own transcendental experience, I would not be here writing about it.

Watts suggests that Jesus has found a way to become one with the universe. He was not the only one. Remember now, the Jews and the Muslims see Jesus as a great prophet.  It is just that many churches have seen Jesus as the great profit; that the Church said fine, Jesus is a Son of God, but he is THE ONLY SON OF GOD.

Jesus said that he would show the way, the life and the truth. Well, Watts tells us that Jesus does suggest such a thing.

As  a child, it troubled me that Jesus was God, that he had always been God and would always be God.

If that were the case, why would a few nails bother him?

But Jesus also spoke about the world of God and the world of Caesar; the laws of God and the laws of Caesar; and our debts to God and our debts to Caesar.

There is a way that we can become part of the one, at least for awhile.

Watts says that we may experience this after decades of disciplined prayer and thought like a Buddhist Monk or we may experience a part of this when we fall in love.

Now I might feel at one with Jason or MBH for a short period. It really feels good. But neither Jason nor MBH are going to pay my rent this coming month. Although I am seeking an agent to attempt some arrangement. Hahaha

I was asked to post a Christmas blog. Try to attempt to get into a Holiday Spirit.

This shall be the first portion of that blog. I shall build on this in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, try this for size as far as getting back to that Oceanic phase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVJAW-ag7fs

If this is too heavy for you, try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoMi8aWLDCs

I do not think your name has to be Loretta.