Rock and roll . . .

Saturday. Sofa. Coffee

Why are things the way they are?

I don't mean like why the world seems to be in such a mess.

For instance, why do cars look like cars?

We are at the beginning of what many think is a radical revolution in personal transportation, the emergence of the electric automobile. Admittedly a radical change if it continues, the shift of power source from internal combustion of petroleum to electricity. But it still looks like a car. Four tires pushing us along a smooth hard surface while a driver controls the direction with a steering wheel as he or she faces forward, just as the passengers that travel along.

I like my car, even if the right rear window won't stay up sometimes. But is this the only design available for personal transportation?

A caveperson with an aching back dropped a chunk of tree trunk on the way to the fire and kicked it out of frustration. It rolled. "Hmmmm . . .," he thought. Another kick. It rolled a bit farther. He didn't have to bend over and pick it up. This was much easier. It was even easier if the logs were straight and uniform. But not everything could be made straight and uniform. "Hmmm . . ." He lifted a heavy, chunky rock and put it on top of the straight uniform logs. The rock didn't roll, but the logs did, moving the rock right along with them. And we were off to the races. I think the neanderthal went straight to the infield at Talladega. Nobody noticed.

Sure, there were a lot of innovations along the way, like cup holders and eight track players, but the conception of the wheel, the simple machine of elementary school science class, was the genesis of the cars we drive.

Maybe that's the only way it could have happened. But maybe not. We just got on a roll.

Every creation of man has a genesis, whether the creation be mechanical, institutional, philosophical, intellectual, or some other -al that I haven't thought of.

And once we have a genesis, a starting point, we as humans have a tendency to never look back. We look forward, which is not a bad thing. But even our cars have rear view mirrors.

There may be other ways to do things that we left behind, other points of genesis that are excluded by the chosen path. Exits on the developmental interstate that we should have explored.

And that is the general reason that things are the way they are.

And that includes the mess the world seems to be in.

Remember some of those irritating words of Jesus?

It was said . . .but now I tell you.

Love. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Love yourself. Serve. Turn the other cheek. Give what is needed. Don't store up treasures. Put away the sword. Pick up your cross.

He told us we had to change, to turn around, to find the better way.

Wait till we find a safe exit with clean bathrooms. Meanwhile, set the cruise control and crank up the praise music.

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