by Miller, Tony
“Well Charlie, if that’s so, then we’ve proved you exist separate from your mind, and that you can think and look and contemplate, have we not?”
“Damn, that seems so obvious!”
“All truth seems to be that way, simple. It’s getting at the truth that is sometimes complicated, directly proportional to the lies piled on top. So it seems the mind, body, and spirit boys have a better concept.”
“I can go with that.”
“Psychiatry and psychology, however, are traitors to both fields. The prefix Psych means spirit or soul and -iatry means healer of and –ology means study of. So, Charlie, can you see the fraud when they claim man is not a spirit?”
“That’s like saying man doesn’t think, look nor contemplate. They discredit science when they peddle lies in its name. When I hear that man is just a mind and body without a looker, thinker, and contemplator, I feel a little bile rise up in my throat at the shallowness of such ‘thinking.’”
Stanley stood and walked to the bathroom. He didn’t close the door and Charlie could hear him peeing. “Sounds like a race horse,” mumbled Charlie.
“If it weren’t for their mastery of deception and lies called public relations and propaganda, I believe they would be relegated to an old minstrel show called the village idiots at best and prison if justice prevailed.”
“Come on, Stanley, they don’t all think like that. Some are studying the brain for insights into mental problems and such.”
“Oh, you’re impressed with the brain boys, are you? Well, once again it’s perfectly obvious from all scientific tests ever done that the brain is just a switchboard between the two opposite but parallel universes. Calling it anything more would be as wrong as Galen calling the heart anything but a blood pump.”
“Then what’s the other universe?”
“Good question, Charlie. Well, let’s see, it would be the opposite of the physical universe. Have you heard of anti-matter, Charlie?”
“I saw something about that on the science channel. I believe they were thinking black holes might be made up of anti-matter.”
“Yes, some physicists made that silly statement, until a less glib scientist pointed out that black holes couldn’t be anti-matter simply because they had a location and occupied space. They were not opposite, and to be anti-matter, it would have to be opposite.”
Stanley continued.
“So, the opposite of the physical universe would be no matter, no particle, no energy, no space, no location, and no persistence through time, and yet it would exist!”
“That’s impossible, Stanley!”
“Oh, really? Well, earlier when I asked you to think of your car, you created a mental picture, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“That mental picture existed, didn’t it? And yet it has no matter, no weight, no location, no space, and it vanishes when you aren’t thinking of it, so no time.”
Charlie cocked an eyebrow. “Who are you, Stanley?”
“Simple and totally obvious.”
“So, Stanley, if I got this right, a thought is the opposite of the physical universe.”
“That was my first thought, but then I realized that the thought was being created in the thinker’s universe. I then wondered if it was the thought or the thinker who was opposite.”
“If a thought is anti-matter how come physical things don’t disappear when you think of them? I don’t get it.” said Charlie.
“It is consciousness itself, awareness, that nothingness that can suddenly envision something, that is the cause,” Stanley said with certainty.
Charlie made the cross-eyed face.
“Okay, Charlie, think of a black cat with four white feet and a white tip on its tail. Can you do that?”
“Of course, okay, I have created a black cat with four white feet and a white tip to its tail,” Charlie said with irritation.
“Okay, good. Now we both have a picture of the same black cat, do we not?” asked Stanley.
“We do!” agreed Charlie.
“We created that cat, right?”
“Um … right.”
“Were words the tool used to create that cat? Words like black, white, tail, and feet?” asked Stanley.
“Yeah.”
“Now for us to create that mutual cat, we had to have the same definitions of the words used to do that. Is that right, Charlie?”
“Righto again, Stanley.”
“So, we created a cat in a mutual universe. We now have a common reality in a third universe, the universe of Charlie and Stanley.”
“Okay, I get it. I have a universe, you have a universe, and we have a universe.”
“Good, now it stands to reason that every human being creates in their own and others universes. So it could be said that we are all creators. Is that too unreasonable?” asked Stanley.
“I guess not.”
“Okay, then it follows that since we’re all different, that if you lined all of us up and put a creato-meter on us one at a time that one would be more creative than any other, right?”
“Right.”
“What is the word that means the very best?”
“Beats the hell out of me,” Charlie said.
“Supreme, right? So how would a supreme being create a universe?”
“This is getting interesting, Stanley.”
“It is interesting, especially since the bible said, ‘In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.’”
“I don’t understand exactly what that means, Stanley.”
“It means exactly what it says, Charlie. Just think about this. In the pursuit of the knowledge of life and the physical universe, scientists and philosophers look back in time, obviously. They couldn’t research the future as it hasn’t arrived yet. So there’s a lot of stuff to analyze today but there was a bit less yesterday, in as much as there is so much expanding and multiplying going on. Some of the top physicists think that the physical universe goes back to the ultimate simple one big bang that started it all.”
“Yeah, the ‘big bang’ evolution, and all that.”
“Now, think about that, Charlie. Look how shortsighted the brainy boys are. For a big bang to occur, there must have been a location in space to go boom in, right?”
Charlie raised an eyebrow.
“That’s right, Charlie, location and space are part of the physical universe, so there had to be a partial universe here already-and who created it?”
Charlie stood, and walked over to his tattered green recliner and sat down heavily. He stretched out and looked at the old popcorn ceiling. Old ceilings were as annoying as old friends sometimes. Both were needed. Charlie was just glad ceilings couldn’t talk.
“There is only one logical answer that can be extrapolated from this.”
“Whoa, Stanley, what is extrapolated?”
“Extrapolated is to take some rules about known things to figure out some unknown things. Like when you’re trying to pick up a chick, and you know something about her, if you see a wedding band on her finger you can use the rules surrounding marriage to understand more about her, right!”
“I’m with you.” Charlie said.
“Now if you see a woman without a wedding band, you can extrapolate that she’s single and have the odds on your side of being right, right?” asked Stanley.
“Okay, I got it.”
“So if we can mutually create a black cat with words in a mutually viewed universe, we may extrapolate that it wouldn’t be totally unreasonable that the physical universe was simply spoken into existence with, say, words like let there be light, and there was light! Or boom, or exist, if you will. So, Charlie, if that was how it happened, and we know that sound and light are wavelengths, then here is a puzzle for you, Charlie, like the chicken and the egg thing. Which came first, sound or light?”
Charlie thought a moment. “Light?”
Stanley smiled. �
��Well, how about the words, Let there be light? Sounds, right.”
“Oh, yeah, sounds came first.”
“I’m afraid not, Charlie. If sound is defined as a sound wave that travels through some sort of medium like a gas or liquid or solid like an eardrum. Well at the first moment there were no eardrums, so no sound.”
Charlie looked puzzled. “It was light?”
“Afraid not, Charlie. There wasn’t a space to light up. Remember, space is part of the physical universe.”
“Okay, okay, okay! Oh, wise-ass one, what’s your theory?”
Charlie got up and sauntered to the kitchen, rummaged through the pantry and retrieved a bag of Cheetos. He went back and sat down on the couch. He offered the open bag to Stanley, but he waved it off.
“I’m glad you asked.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “Anything to end this interrogation!”
Stanley seemed to mellow out and said, “before the beginning of the physical universe was simply consciousness.”
Charlie raised a finger, “of what, since nothing existed?”
“Of being conscious,” said Stanley.
“Sounds boring.” Charlie faked a yawn.
“Exactly, until someone made the first decision to start something to create a little interest!” said Stanley.
“Okay, Stanley, I’ll bite. What do you think was the first decision and the beginning of the physical universe?”
“It could only be one thing.”
“What?” asked Charlie.
“Hamlet had it right.”
“What?”
“The first decision was ‘To Be!’”
“To be?” Charlie repeated, perplexed.
“Yep, someone decided to exist and needed a place to exist in. To do that, that someone created an idea and said something in the order of ‘Let there be light’ or the equivalent. If I’m right, it would have taken quite a strong intention, and I am betting that the first entry into the physical universe was simply a small orb of light!” said Stanley.
“A small orb of light, not a big bang?” inquired Charlie.
“I should say a small wave of energy,” answered Stanley.
Charlie looked suddenly alert. “Then what is the wave of energy made of?”
“Now that is the question. I’m relatively certain that the thinker or consciousness simply created the physical universe by its will. So, just as a particle is condensed energy waves, condensed energy waves are condensed thought,” Stanley stated confidently.
“So, Anne wills herself into her room? Hmmm, then orbs and portals are, uh, consciousness points?” Charlie asked tentatively.
“Bingo!” Stanley said emphatically.
Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Quantum physics!”
“Exactly!”
“Holy smokes, that would make science substantiate religion!”
“You got it, Sherlock!”
“What about the big bang?”
“That dawned on me, too. Think about it. Before the big bang, there was simply consciousness. When someone made a decision to be, what they actually did is separate from the mass-less group.”
“Group?”
“Well, technically not a group yet, but when someone created that first orb or light, then it fragmented the consciousness. It had to view its creation or universe. Of course, it follows that the other fragments became instantly points of view themselves, now able to create independently. Now at that first instant with all the points of view suddenly aware of the point of light there was a tremendous explosion as unlimited power converged on one spot!”
Charlie looked awestruck. “Who are you, Stanley?”
“Easy, Charlie. Before you drop to your knees, I’m only a curious researcher who refuses to be put off the trail of truth by dogmatists of religion or science. Many in science have become almost that which they despised, and religionists burned scientists as heretics. They’ve refused to acknowledge one half of the equation.
“All that is changing as Quantum Physics and the best metaphysical philosophers are now starting to work together. Huge changes in common held reality are happening. The days of dogmatic sociopaths and authorities without a clue are numbered. I believe we’re on the verge of the theory of everything that Einstein sought. It is obvious that consciousness and the physical are the two halves of the whole.”
“So you think the creationists are more right than evolutionists?”
“No, Charlie, both are right. God created the first point of light that combined into particles, then into all forms of the physical universe. It did that by following the blueprint called the original intention, idea, vision, dream or whatever you want to call it. That wouldn’t exclude evolution, which says that that which exists, evolves.”
“Who is God?”
“The word God is just a group of sounds that we call a word. It points to the ultimate force that created it all. You can call it God, universal mind, Yahweh, Allah, or any other word, and it would still point to the first cause, the creator, etc. Jesus never used the word God, as he didn’t speak English.”
“So, God is that first someone and is responsible for it all?”
“Actually, each of us is responsible. Each of us decided to agree with that point of light. That’s why we have volition or free will. We made the decision to be as well. The truth of most all religions and science will line up to this.”
Charlie smiled and added, “Yeah, which makes sense, like why we are the children of God or made in his own image thing, free will, or if the creator were from Texas, the first words could have been, ‘hey, ya’ll, watch this!’”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The ride home from the Hughes Hotel was something of a dilemma for Anne. It was a beautiful evening, and Paul’s light chit chat, ranging from his desire to help mankind, to the wonders of pharmacy, was almost hypnotic. She knew she should be happy and falling in love, but as their carriage approached her home, she saw her six foot four inch dilemma.
It was Colton, their groomsman. He took care of the family horses and carriage. He was twenty-two years old and had worked for the Meux family for two years. He lived in a room attached to the carriage house. He worked during the day at a livery service he co-owned with Samuel Novak, a black gentleman he’d met in San Francisco when Colton emigrated from England. Samuel had also emigrated from England five years previously.
Colton closed the carriage house doors as they pulled up. He looked up, nodded, walked to the door of his living quarters, and disappeared inside. Anne sighed. Paul helped her from the carriage. He walked her to her door and then, after thanking her for her company and kissing her hand, he left.
Anne extinguished the lantern that her father had left for her. She stood in darkness and turned toward Colton’s quarters. She leaned against the cool clapboards and remembered the first time she had seen Colton. Her father had been interviewing applicants to replace the groomsman who was retiring.
It was late afternoon when this confident nineteen-year-old, with dark blond hair slicked back under a black Stetson hat, rode up on a beautiful Arabian horse.
He dismounted his horse in a fluid movement and removed his hat as he did so. He let go of the reigns of his horse and strode toward Anne’s father. The horse followed. He shook her father’s hand with a firm grip. Even though Anne was just fifteen-years-old, she felt that pang of love seize her heart.
Anne watched as her father showed Colton their carriage and horses. She noticed how intently Colton listened to every word her father said and seemed only to speak when asking a question for clarification. She watched as her father asked him questions while gesturing toward the carriage. Colton would confidently point out different parts of the carriage while her father nodded in agreement. Colton was soon directed to the corral where the horses came up and nuzzled him like a long lost friend. She saw her father’s approving smile. A bit more chatting, and the two men shook hands.
Colton moved into the room at
tached to the carriage house the next day. Anne followed him around asking questions on any subject she could think of just to be near him. He was always patient and listened to her with respect and would always try to answer her as best he could. She would often peek out various windows of the house just to catch glimpses of him working. She always wondered what he was thinking of as he worked. She loved those days when he took off his shirt, and she could see his muscles covered in sweat. He would always put his shirt on if he saw her approaching.
Anne would often stop by Colton and Sam’s livery and corral and watch them work with the Arabians. Sam and Colton always treated her with great deference, and she came as close to feeling like a princess as a young woman in Fresno could.
Anne wondered at Colton’s uncanny abilities with horses. He seemed to have this tremendous instinctive ability when working with them. Never mean, he seemed to love them so much that they would do anything to keep it. They communicated without words in another universe unknown to her. She dreamed of entering that universe on a daily basis.
Anne knew all too well that Colton viewed her as a child for the first few years. Now, at nineteen, her breasts had fully filled out and her face had lost any vestiges of a child’s. Colton, she noticed, now looked at her differently.
Anne brought herself out of her reverie and thought of Paul. She then thought of Colton. Sadness crept over her as she realized her love for Colton could never be. He was a servant. It would disgrace her parents if she married so far below her social standing, and she wouldn’t hurt her parents for the world. If only Colton were wealthy enough to take her away so they could be together without hurting anyone.
Stop it, she told herself, you’re thinking like a child. I must take care of my mother. She turned and walked through the darkened house and up to her room. Tears dripped from her cheeks as she collapsed into her pillow.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Colton Johanson was from England, and came from a long line of horse breeders on his mother’s side. His father had abandoned the family before Colton was born. His mother had traveled from Sweden to England where she changed her name from Johansson to Johanson. When Colton had asked his mother why the ‘s’ was dropped, she just said everyone always forgot the extra ‘s’ anyway, and this way she wouldn’t have to correct them.
