Life is Created in a Test Tube

“So Sergeant Pepper took you by surprise- -

You better see right through that mother’s eyes”.

I was going to dedicate a whole posting to last night’s story about the creation of life in a test tube. It’s one of those things religious people thought could never be done. There were even pamphlets saying “even if you could assenble the correct DNA in a lab you would still have a dead molecule. That “spark of life” from God would be missing and without that ineffable “something”, which is the soul, good religious people told us that you could never have new life. That is all by the way side now. What they did was scoop out the DNA from a bacteria cell and then a computer programmed the DNA sequence of ten million genes or whatever, arranged in just the right order, that is the A and T and C and G segments in the double helix molecule. And the DNA was inserted into the scooped out shell and vualah - - life happened. I remember at the Bosc house in early 1983 a group of us were watching the news on TV. They had an article about cloning orchids or something and Shelly piped in “God would never allow that” referring to cloning. This was long before they cloned Dolly the sheep. Now they have gone further and created life from non living elements that were just assembled like an erector set. The thing is it seems to prove the attage that consciousness is just an Illusion of the person experiencing it- - and there appears to be no measurable substance that is mysteriously “Added in by God” to produce life. Today in class I mention to Dr. Levy this topic and I also said “The thing is with God is that there has never been any scientists doing any experiment, who has been able to measurably quantify God.” And to my astonishment, Dr. Levy agreed with me. Elizabeth spoke up in protest saying that she prays to God all the time and that God answers her all the time. She is a Calvary Chapel afficianado who worships the ground Chuck Smith walks on. Chuck Smith is having another of his massive Calvary Chappels rallies at the Convention Center this Sunday. It will be one of their classic “Looking back” exercises, for which they have become famous featuring guests such as Chuck Gerrard, Raul Ruis, John Mc Dowell and Greg Laurie. And they are going to show a documentary film. I thought that maybe I might go if some people from here went, like perhaps some of the Mormon croud. When Dr. Levy mentioned that Jehovah was incoporial, I happened to mention that Jehovah was once a man as we are and that he went off to found and seed his own planet, and here we are on planet earth. The remark was a jab and a test at Bob Guyer, who didn’t rise to the bait. And Dr. Levy only responded, “I haven’t heard of that story”. When it comes to the Calvary Chappels so many lines from the John Lennon song “How do you sleep at night” come true, like “You live with straights who tell you you was king” and the line about “The only thing you done was yesterday” and also “A pretty face may last a year or two, but pretty soon we’ll see what you can do”. To my way of thinking forty years is only “a year or two” to him. Every day must be a bad day for Chuck Smith and Satan must rejoice every morning he learns that Chuck Smith is still alive- - ready to be tormented bu the future he so dreads- - one more day. But I’m not even sure I’ll go Sunday.

“After this nobody dared ask him any more questions…”

Just prior to hearing yesterday’s “Life in a test tube’ news, I had a recall moment of something I had forgotten, but something where I wish my memory had been clearer”. You know how I wrote Mark Bove in August of 1994 that “God lied to me and told me in January of 1988 that I would be marrying Debby Lies”. But that wasn’t the Whole revelation. Let me quote scripture, “Listen to the whole counsel of God”. But you can’t meditate on it if you can’t remember it. It all began on the afternoon of October 2^nd of 1987 when I was walking home to the Bosc house where I lived at the time. And I told God that “something is wrong with my relations with roommates Frank and [Henry] and I want you to expose it and make it plain to me - - and nothing in my own life is out of bounds. This is an unconditional prayer”. It was the following Thursday that Frank torched that whole shelf of my books there in the living room. First of all and parenthetically this loss kind of pales in comparison to the realization that my writings from November of 1991 till I quit writing in April of 2001- - these writings that had not been in my desk but in folders on a bookcase- - were gone, lost, destroyed or otherwise along with recordings I intended to preserve of relatives from the ‘sixties such as Aunts, Uncles, three grandparents, and various other people- - again many of whom who are dead now. But back to January of 1988, God told me “The destruction of those books was NOT my response to your prayer. My answer to your prayer as is follows. Because you prayed unconditionally, withholding nothing, so I shall not withhold from you your destiny. Everything in your life has a reason and a plan I have for you. You will move [back] to a residence of your own, and also Debby Lies is destined to be your wife. This is an unconditional promise and not contingent on anything you do or don’t do. All you have to do is believe it”. Right now I would like to turn on the Marcus camera and let you follow me around for one day to keep tabs on what I do. To answer the riddle of the quote at the top of the page it’s as follows. Chuck Smith will die one day and meet the Centaurian demon who empowered him during his life. And Chuck Smith will see the creature and say “I wish I saw things while living that I see clearly right now”.

I just waited in the medication line. It got “stuck” on Loretta for about five minutes or more. Today is Friday May 21, 2010 and Monday is the 24^th and Chase Bank is offering new customers for “business accounts” a hundred bucks. I’d like to know how you qualify for that. Tonight we had chicken patties that were pretty tough to cut, and mashed potato in some buttery solution, and mixed vegetables, and chocolate pudding for desert. I went to the bakery for a large coffee. I was hoping Dr. Levy would give me some money. Elizabeth says all she has to do is pray for five dollars and it appears out of the air or something. The money I’ve gotten from Dr. Levy was a flook, and the last time was just about six months ago. Eye Witness News is on now. I guess house cleaning was in here and the place smells a little fresher. [name withheld] was remarking that everyone has a caugh now. I’ve just had a cough for less than three days. The Lakers have won eight games in a row but the games have been so stretched out the last game they lost was April 24^th - - which was the day I played “The Empire Strikes Back”.

Last night it was the usual Jeopardy and the Simpson’s, in an episode that obviously first aired in the fall of 1995 with the Simpson DNA reference. Then it was “Flash Forward”. I guess they work these plots to keep you coming back.

In the morning I got up a little later. I went to the bakery for a large coffee and had Stephanie Miller on before and after breakfast. I’m still having problems with the TV not going on but going gray screen to “warm up”. Again after three months of absolutely no problem I began having problems mid day Tuesday. We had hot cereal and Will provided the half banana to slice in the bowl. We had scrambled eggs and I had two toasts with butter and jelly, and just one under-filled really cold cup of coffee.

I listened to Bernie Sanders and went to the liquor store just before nine to buy a pack of Double Diamonds. I’m still wondering whether I should make it my last pack and try to quit smoking. I went for coffee in the courtyard both in the morning and in the afternoon. If they gave you stronger coffee in bigger cups not drowned out by cream and suger it might be worth it. Lunch was an uneventful sandwich affair.

I watched the whole Rand Paul interview in Rachael Maddau, and I must say the interview was mis-characterized. Rand Paul endorses nine out of ten provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights will being worried only about private accommodations and whether a business has the right to choose their patrons. He raised a possible example of people who wanted to carry firearms into a bar and would the owner have the right not to let them in? I don’t think Rand Paul is a bigot. But there are a lot of other tea baggers who are bigots. After this I had some Chris Matthews stuff on briefly.

Now the Texas school system has approved new conservative textbooks the whole country will be using making favorable references to the contract with America and other conservative institutions and equating Jefferson Davis’ words on the same level as Abraham Lincoln, and referring to the Slave Trade as “The Atlantic Triangular Trade”, whatever that is. They wanted to use President Obama’s middle name, Hussein. I think as a liberal we need to pick our battles and spend time on those issues which are genuinely threatening to us, and the education of the Next Generation is such a threat.

In soap land Anna appears to be reviving. Perhaps she’s figured out now that Raphael is not the bad guy but the Di Mira family is. Will thinks Stephano Di Mira is "neat" because he check mated him so quickly at chess. I had Randy Rhodes on briefly.

Dr. Levy had to bring in countless chairs, and this has been a notable problem since we switched rooms. The check-in was very rapid today. Dr. Levy continued to elucidate the religion of Judaism. I must say the class is religiously well informed. Sister Rosetta Stone would be impressed. Marcia asked him about “Making man in our own image” and I echoed with the quote of “Behold man has become as one of us”. Dr. Levy said he didn’t trouble himself with triffles like this. He just said that mankind has an impulse twords good and an impulse twords evil and we have free will and the power to master sin is in our hands. Our calling or “Mitzbah” is to make this World a better place. When Dr. Levy was asked “Doesn’t God say “All things are possible” - - “ and Dr. Levy agreed. Then I said “Isn’t it rather more correct to say “With God all things are predestined”. There is one thing God cannot do and that is change. I also said “There is no such thing as God desiring a thing and it not being so. That’s part of the prerogative of being God.” The thing is that no desire God has is beyond him for the simple reason that God never changes so his desires never can be altered, which works out great. Because the one thing he can’t do will never be made known to God. (Selah)