Endeavoring to catch up
here a little bit. It’s now Tuesday
morning and I have not posted since last week.
Thursday evening I found
myself with some unconnected dots. I’m
left wondering if these will be connected at some time in the future, or if
these were simply random circumstances.
I’m inclined to think the former as I am too convinced of God’s hand on
my day to day activities, not only while I’m here in Colorado, but regularly.
So,
late Thursday afternoon I headed for the Ft. Lewis College campus and the
Center for Southwest Studies Library.
The library has chosen to divest itself of some of its books and they
offered them for sale to the public.
There were some interesting books for sale and I couldn’t resist the
urge to buy a few of them. A couple of
them are analyses of the religious practices of Native Americans. In and of itself, the visit to the library
was not an unconnected event; it was simply an event.
However, while there a man came in to look at the
books. He spoke rather loudly to the
librarian stating, “I just heard about this sale. I didn’t know it was going on until John just
told me about it!” And he was excited to
have the opportunity to look the books over.
I had already made my purchases, but was drawn back to a
couple of older books that I ultimately resisted the temptation to spend more
money on.
The strange thing was, the late-comer noticed what I was
looking at and he started speaking to me about the sociological theories of
[Michael] Mann and how he posits there are four pillars of any society which
the elite manipulate to their liking.
I was intrigued as I’ve spent more than a few moments
thinking that our lives are manipulated by the elite (read, ultra-rich), and I
felt this was an opportunity to learn more.
As I think back on the moment, I’m fairly certain I had a very
quizzical, yet puzzled look on my face as he spoke.
I finally said to him, “Well, you are actually quite far
over my head with Mr. Mann’s theories, but I am interested in learning more.”
As that moment, he could not remember Mann’s first name
so he asked the librarian to look him up.
I took out my phone and performed a quick search and
discovered that Michael Mann is a professor at UCLA.
With that, I left the library and headed for Noble
Hall. There was a lecture beginning in
an hour as part of the Lifelong Learning Series on recent developments in brain
science which I wanted to hear.
I was an hour early so I had brought one of my new books
and was looking for a place to curl up and read for a little while. While walking past one of the classrooms,
there was a video playing for a class and as I passed by, I heard the lecturer
say something about male aggressiveness in our society and I was, again,
intrigued.
So, I stood in the doorway and listened. A female, the professor I assume, was
standing near the doorway and she looked at me and smiled; as if to say, you’re
welcome to listen in. So, I did.
The video is by Jackson Katz on violence by men. I have now found it, or at least a similar
one on a TED talk at:
So, I sat down on the steps of the classroom and
listened. So, the lecture concluded and
I exited the classroom and went next door for the lifelong learning
lecture.
So, for the lecture this evening, we were entertained by
Dr. Ben Kater, a retired neuroscientist who has some pretty lofty
credentials.
He gave us a lot, but three basic take-aways: 1) It
is likely that EVERYTHING we do, experience, sense is changing the brain; all
the time, 2) Any constraints put upon us, and particularly children, which can
impact the brain’s development can be severely limiting, and 3) exercise is
probably the BEST thing one can do to improve and enhance the brain’s
neuroplasticity.
Here’s a picture of the brain’s vascular system. Dr. Kater said, “It’s beautiful isn’t it?!”
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| Brain's vascular system |
During Q&A, at least three individuals, maybe four
asked questions about the benefits of meditation on brain development and
plasticity. It was interesting to watch
the obvious interest that the questioners had of Dr. Kater; appearing desirous
of his endorsement of what is obviously their lifestyle choice. He did not endorse meditation as a bonafide
method for benefit of the plasticity of the brain, but said, “I used to use meditation,
but now I have horses!”
He presented some pretty amazing findings from his
studies about the ways in which the brain is able to overcome sensory
deprivations and/or changes. Too complex
to try to put here, but definitely worth researching.
Saturday provided me with an opportunity to visit Mesa
Verde (the Green Table) National Park.
It’s early in the season and a wonderful time to visit if one doesn’t
mind a lack of crowds!! I’ve posted
several photos from the day on my facebook page and will put a couple of the
better ones here. It was interesting to
learn that, historically we have referred to the people who lived here as the
Anasazi. Today I learned that the word
Puebloan is a better word to use.
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| Approaching from the east |
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| Looking back to the east |
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| Cliff Palace, 1500 years old |
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| Canyon view from Cliff Palace |
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| No modern tools! |
I mentioned the early season lack of visitors to the
park. I had some solitary moments
throughout the day, but particularly at Park Point Fire Lookout Tower. This spot is the highest elevation in the
park (hence the reason for it being a fire lookout location!) at 8572 feet
above sea level. The amazing thing was
that God and I were the only ones up there!
Talk about alone time with God!
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| View to the south from Park Point |
There was much of the park I did see, but much left
undiscovered and I will return at least one more time before I depart
Colorado. It was quite a day and a trip to
the Trimble Hot Springs that evening was very much in order.
Can you believe I am actually getting to do all of
this?!?!
And, as I prepared to head for bed on Saturday evening,
some thoughts. I am now at the halfway
point of this adventure. I’m ready to be
with Muggy, but I am still anxious to see what God has for me. I confess to some confusion in the myriad
things coming across my path. I will not
obsess. I will wait upon the Lord to show
me what He has for me.
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