Dia de los Muertos

Today, the Day of the Dead, is not a time to be sad about those who are no longer with us. Rather it's a chance to listen to what they still say to us. It's an opportunity to let them guide us, to allow them to connect with their greatest legacy - us! Our ancestors have long turned to dust, but their lives and achievements echo forward. The dead still live in us.  

Celebrate your ancestors today. Find something connected with them - a photograph, a letter, a piece of jewelry. Remember them. See yourself through their eyes. They are watching. Make them proud! Here are a few of mine.

 ¡Viva los Muertos!

Jan (John) Klocek, my grandfather, 1940s

Victoria Kurç Klocek, my grandmother, 1941 (left) and 1953 (right)

 

My grandparents, 1911 (left) and 1943 (right)

  

Rickenbach ancestors on the Schuylkill Canal north of Reading, Pennsylvania, 1880s. 

 

At James Rickenbach's house, near Tuckerton, Pennsylvania, 1880s.

Rickenbach 'Navy Yard' drydock, along Cross Keys Road north of Reading, Pennsylvania, 1880s.

Origins of All Hallows (Saints) Eve

It's Only a Theory

 "It's only a theory..."

That's like saying "It's only the Hope Diamond"

A theory in science is the gold standard of knowledge. Those best ideas that have stood the test of thousands of skeptical scientists. Those ideas that actually work. Those ideas we can use. The theory of gravity. The theory of evolution by natural selection. The theory of electromagnetism. The theory of climate change. 

When you have an idea that might explain something, we put it on the queue for testing. That idea is called an hypothesis. Once that idea has gone through extreme scrutiny, repeated testing, and still comes out as the best explanation for something, that idea is elevated to a theory. That's the value of consensus in science. Not that we voted for the best ideas. But that, try as hard as we may, those ideas can't be shot down. They remain the best explanation.

Here is a recent NPR story from May 28, 2021 on President Biden ordering an investigation into the coronavirus origins. The reporter, John Ruwitch, mentions the hypothesis that the virus may have originated in a Chinese lab. 

YES, thank you John! It's a hypothesis, not a theory! Later the reporter slipped and called it a theory, but I won't mention that...

Why is it important to distinguish between hypothesis and theory? Because in the public discourse, when we say something is a theory, we dismiss it as being speculative. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The theory of gravitation is a rock-solid, time-tested, actionable idea that we can count on to explain the world we live in, and importantly, to predict the future. Same with the theory of evolution by natural selection. And yes, the theory of human-caused climate change. 

In the age of alternative facts and willful ignorance, it is essential that at least we all speak the same language when it comes to those best ideas that define our place in the world and with each other. 

Black Hole in the Sun

In a world of uncertainty and trouble, the sun has always inspired awe and reverence. Its constant brilliance brings life and light. The sun breathes promise and hope into each new day. Its unending light transcends death. Without the sun, we are nothing.

These are deep spiritual connections. They are also irrefutable facts.

Those two pillars of understanding – faith and science – joined forces on August 21, 2017 on a hot summer day to unite, in a way nothing else ever could, millions of people - of all faiths or no faith -  called to meet along a seventy-mile wide strip of land crossing the United States. I was one of them.

I almost wish I had experienced that day's total eclipse of the sun like our ancestors did. They had no idea it was coming. To them the fading sun came by complete surprise, that must have quickly led to desperate fear of losing the one light they could always count on. I tried to put myself in their shoes at that moment. So as I looked skyward just before the sun disappeared, I awaited feelings of unease.

As a black disk covered all but a bright golden sliver of sunlight, I saw our awesome star become suddenly vulnerable, its power diminished. The clouds disappeared in the cooling air. A massive dark shadow rolled across the sky. Birds, insects, and humans screamed in unison. And then, in an instant, the sun’s brilliant light vanished.

Instead of fear, I felt something surprising and disarming. Like me at that moment, an ancient observer must have realized that the sun was not lost. Rather, the truth of its beauty was found.

All at once the sun transformed into the most beautiful, ethereal sight that I will ever see – a deep black hole in the sky, wreathed in a pearly glow embedded in the dark blue mid-afternoon twilight. Thin silver luminescent rivers flowed in three directions away from the void, like a mermaid’s flowing hair suspended in water. The black circular edge flickered with tiny red glowing embers. Minutes later, the sun’s golden light exploded back into the sky like a supernova, hiding again the incredible beauty we had been allowed to see for a brief moment. Those two and a half minutes passed rapidly, but seemed like a lifetime.

It was as if a goddess suspended her blinding brilliance for a fleeting moment to reveal to us her true nature, her incredible beauty. A gift of encouragement and inspiration to her people: ‘Keep going! It’s worth all the pain and fear! Everything will be alright!’

It was a sight that a photograph or video absolutely cannot capture. It was a deeply moving experience that I hope never to recover from, shared with family, friends and strangers at a city park in a small town in South Carolina that I will not likely pass through again. I shared the experience with friends and family across the country united by text and social media.

Today, days later, I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the urgency to understand the world and our place in it was ignited in people thousands of years ago after seeing a total eclipse of the sun.

May we all continue to benefit from that gift. 

Total solar eclipse, Fountain Inn, South Carolina, 21 August 2017. Photo by T. Rickenbach

Real-time video on 21 August 2017 of the total solar eclipse from a regional park in Fountain Inn, South Carolina leading up to and including totality, shot on a GoPro Hero 5 Session. Totality lasts 2 min 23 sec. The color transitions are pretty accurate, but the corona viewed live was so much more detailed, and far more beautiful. Video by T. Rickenbach.

Look up!

Why are we compelled to look up at the stars? 

The matter that makes up your body was forged in the violent death of some old and distant star. Yes, that makes you a star! In its dying breath that brave star paved a path that has led right to you - all it took to travel down that road was time and physics. Honor your legacy by keeping that fire alive as you watch your next sunrise...

Tonight, gaze up into the mirror of the night sky. See and feel the deep connection you have to every living thing that ever breathed, grew, and loved here at home or anywhere else in the universe. Know that you are a vital - an essential - part of the whole. Look up and look well, and as you do, realize that you are a beautiful and unique way for our ancient universe to know itself!

This wonderful perspective was brought to you by….scientific inquiry!