On Moving to the Beach, and Souls

The contract is signed, the commitment is made and I can officially talk about it now. The fella and I are moving to the beach--from the rolling plains of the Texas Panhandle 600 miles or so to the Texas Gulf Coast.

I'm really excited about it, even though it means leaving my wonderful office with its two big windows, and having to go through all my books--including way too many that I haven't read yet. (Ugh.)

But we have always loved the coast--everything about it, from the salt water, and the sand and the seafood and boats--all of it. Okay, maybe not the hurricanes, but we've been living in Tornado Alley for 30 years. At least with a hurricane, you get more warning than you do with a tornado. I don't think there's any place that is 100% safe. It just depends on what kind of weather/nature hazard you're willing to put up with. I'll be happy living on my barrier island, and writing is one of those jobs that can be done anywhere.

A while back, I sent the daughter a book I thought she'd enjoy, because it was about math, and the mind and other strange things. I didn't read it, because I didn't think I'd be able to follow it. Instead, she was outraged when, not far into the book, the author stated that "'mentally retarded, brain-damaged, and senile humans' have less consciousness and therefore less of a soul than other human beings. But don't worry, they still rate higher than dogs and bunnies." (I'm quoting the daughter, mostly.) The idea that someone would actually think that her son had less of a soul than they did rightfully pushed all her buttons.

This guy appears to equate intellectual capacity with soul, which in my not-so-humble opinion is utterly false. How much soul would the merely stupid possess? How can you account for the apparent soullessness of many intellectually-gifted persons? Frankly, I believe that all humans are issued souls of equal value--and then we mess them up as we go through life. Innocence, which is found in the young, and in those whose mental functions differ from the norm, provides a purity of soul not often found in "normal" people.

Soul is not a property of the intellect. It is a property of existence. Of the human condition--whatever condition it might take.

I could probably go on, but I think I've been metaphysical enough for today. And I have stuff to go through before I start packing. Wish me luck.