Acts of Creation

When I was in 7th grade biology lab at Felix V. Festa Junior High in West Nyack, New York (and, yes, I really DID walk 2.6 miles as a child uphill, every day for two years in the rain, sleet, or snow, like an unpaid postal worker carrying a load of heavy school books: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/3+Stegmeyer+Ln,+New+City,+NY+10956/Felix+Festa+Middle+School+Campus,+Parrott+Road,+West+Nyack,+NY/@41.1217371,-74.0001876,3203m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c2c29992dab085:0xbcdd2ab48bbf66e3!2m2!1d-74.0015367!2d41.1213911!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c2c288479eb5b9:0xfe59e4b7c9903e94!2m2!1d-73.982099!2d41.123044), my excellent science teacher instructed us to debate Creationism vs. Evolution.

I chose to debate the scientific principle that we know to be true. So, as we sat down on opposing sides, I knew I had it in the bag, but I was shocked to see kids who were considered rather good students choosing the other side, like the head cheerleader and the teacher's pet with the really good grades. What the....wait a minute....I know this kind of situation. It's called being a "Show Pony", and it's how ass-kissing students work the academic system instead of learning from it, for grades and appearances. Good! It means I can outthink the opposition.

And I did, but thinking wasn't really the challenge for me. My main obstacle was keeping myself cool in the the heat of battle. When the spoiled, self-obsessed cheerleader, formerly of the big metal braces, thick glasses, and quick Spring Break nose job (Hi, Lauren!) shouted back to my carbon-dating rebuttal that "Scientists can do anything!", I knew it was a setup. There are days when my microbiologist mom can barely drag herself out of bed (then and now), let alone remake the world on a totally cellular level to be whatever she wants it to be like a magician pulling a hat trick, but this kid didn't seem to understand that. She didn't seem to actually KNOW anything. She was just yelling words back at me without any evidence to support her wild claims about the world we live in. A willfully protected ignorance like hers had eluded me. What was I supposed to do now?!

I colored, shocked and adrift for a moment in her fiercely childish anger at being outsmarted by me so easily, as I looked to my science teacher for help in controlling her student's temper tantrum. She stood behind the row of chairs on the Creationist side and nodded slowly at me, then gave me a silent, "cool it down" gesture. That was it. I took a deep breath, in reply: "But, why? Why would someone do that?" She sputtered, stalled, then failed the debate entirely. "Well, www-welll....I don't know!" You don't know. And she knew it, too. It was a profound victory for me that I never forgot, or that class. Thank you, "Mrs. Science Teacher", from the bottom of my heart, because this Rockland County girl was at least 2-4 years younger than all of her classmates in junior high school, as it was for me throughout my early academic life. I was only 12 years old the first time I tackled that particular fear. You'd be wise to remember that about me, readers. It will serve you well.

“I would say that all our sciences are the material that has to be mythologized. A mythology gives spiritual import - what one might call rather the psychological, inward import, of the world of nature round about us, as understood today. There's no real conflict between science and religion ... What is in conflict is the science of 2000 BC ... and the science of the 20th century AD.”
― Joseph Campbell

Greatest Hits

I submit to you, dear readers, that the best orchestral accompaniment to any movie is that of Star Wars. It builds emotional tension, animates battle sequences, and becomes the backdrop to every major storyline, including the romance between Princess Leia and Hans Solo. 

Who could forget the opening credits, with the scrolling storyline as the main theme plays?

Listen to the menace behind Darth Vader's theme, "The Imperial March" by George Lucas, John Williams, and the London Symphony Orchestra:

This sad tribute plays after Luke discovers that his family has been murdered by Imperial troops while he was away from the compound. He realizes that he is now alone, and so his journey begins. It's called "Binary Sunset":

How much fun is the Catina scene? Ever walked into a strange place in a strange land, and never felt more like a stranger that you had in your entire life?  Luke's quest begins with this introduction to the universe at large. The adventure starts:

I got chills at the end of the movie when Luke and Hans receive medals for their service to The Federation. It's kind of reminiscent of a graduation ceremony. Go Chewie! At the end of the scene, the music seamlessly rolls with the final credits. Masterful.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth

For anyone learning the ropes about the art of storytelling, I submit that there is no better authority and teacher than Joseph Campbell. I remember when I first discovered his series with Bill Beutel on PBS, and I was instantly enraptured—by his eloquence and articulation, the depth of his knowledge, his frank, energetic passion, and excitement for his subject, all of which marked him instantly, in my mind, as a master to learn from.

It becomes even more poignant when you realize, as I did watching the series unfold, that Mr. Campbell was in the last stages of his life, and he knew it. There are several parts which were filmed at The Museum of Natural History, here in New York, where Mr. Beutel asked him about his ending. It is as moving a tribute to the spirit of life as I have ever heard.

No words of mine can ever do justice to his incredible legacy. Please discover Joseph Campbell and his works, and be profoundly changed, forever, as I was.

http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php

http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php?categoryid=11