Finite Gods

Finite Gods

Michael Cannata

            In my search for truth and the meaning of Life, I sometimes turn off the TV and think about things. I know, it's a scary thing to do, but if you’re a serious student of Life like I am, you have to look at it once in a while. Maybe read a book about it. On a really desperate day I might even join in on Life. Not my own life necessarily, but someone's… or something's.

            The problem I have with getting in touch with the way I feel about Life and its meaning is that, when I do, I always start feeling like I've lost something. Or that something is missing. I begin to feel aimless. I already suffer from terminal forgetfulness anyway, and thinking about Life just makes it worse. All in all, it makes me feel that my life is just time to be spent searching for what I've lost; my faith… my youth… the remote... whatever.

            I've searched in vain for many of the things that other men have searched for and have never found any of them. I've searched for truth, for justice, I've searched for loose, easy women. All are hard to find.

            The hardest thing to find for me anywhere has been God. I have lots of questions that I would like to ask that only God, if there is such a guy, can answer. But God is harder to find than a mouse in a cat house.  

            I don't believe in gods in general, but I think they are fascinating creatures. And, having been raised as a catholic, (through no choice of my own, mind you) I find The GOD of the greatest interest. Once I heard of him and learned that he didn’t live in my neighborhood I started looking for him too.

            Now I admit that I’ve only covered the New England area and bits and pieces of other states. I’ve been to Las Vegas a lot but I’ve never looked for him there. I figured that Sin City is the last place he would hang around. But God, who is supposed to be every where, is nowhere to be found in my neck of the woods.

            I used to jokingly ask people if they have seen him around, but too many people took me seriously and started telling me, often in a not nice fashion, where to go to find him. Usually I was told to look in a place I am not flexible enough to see, let alone check. And I don’t think my head would fit anyway. But I still have questions that I would like answers for.

            I sometimes ask people if they can name something that they have that God can never have, or something they know that God doesn't know.  Some give me thoughtful and considered answers, some give me a slap on the head. The most unreliable answers come from the folks who say they've seen him, or work for him.

            Most of my questions are silly, but some are not.  Does God have a best friend... or a playroom? Has he ever known the embrace of a mother's arms? Has he known the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat? When he made the earth, what did he plan to do with it? If he made us, why doesn’t he hang around with us instead of hiding all the time?

            Mostly what I want to ask is what is it like to be a God? And more to the point, why does he want to be one? I've fantasized about what it would be like to be a Supreme Being and I have a pretty good imagination. Honestly, I have to tell you, to me, it doesn't sound so great. If you look at it, it must be a lonely thing to be a Supreme Being. To be bigger, better, smarter and just all around superior to everyone that exists. I mean, who would he hang around with? What mortal would be able to relate to God the way they do a friend who comes from their neighborhood or went to the same school with them.? It’s like being the BMOC at a college with one student.

            If you can never experience things like winning and losing, laughing or crying, succeeding after trying for so long you were really beginning to feel stupid in a serious way... if gods don't feel things like that... what’s so cool about being one? Suffering the irretrievable loss of someone you love, or feeling the prideful glow of personal achievement is something human that God can't experience.

            If you can create a universe and everything in it; if you have complete dominion over its very existence, once you've done that, what's left to do? What is the next reason for being once you're done? That's it! Go home! You win every game; you can beat up everybody in the world. You can do everything better than every body. Where do you go from there? If nobody has a chance of beating you or winning any games, eventually nobody will want to play with you anymore.

            I haven't found “The God” or any of the lesser gods yet. However, in my long and intense searching, I have found the answers to many of the other Mysteries of Life. After a rather lengthy and meandering quest I have found out where to find human conscience. And I am sure there is life after death; although it's nothing at all like heaven, and I'm pretty sure I can prove it. And not just to the O.J. jury.

            I can also prove that the following popular myths are quite true.

·         U.F.O.'s are real.

·         There are such things as ghosts.

·         There is magic.

·         The end of the world is not only coming, it's a lot closer than you think.

·         Dreams can come true.

·         Re-incarnation is both true and mandatory.

·         There are such things as psychics, little green men, monsters, heroes and Irish people who don't have an "O" in front of their last name.

            I think that I can explain just about every sort of phenomena that you can name. All of the dreams, visions, hallucinations and illusions that have been experienced by specific people and mankind in general have a single source. Many have brought inspirations that produced wondrous achievements. Some have served as portent for even more spectacular tragedies. And God had nothing to do with them.

            Man does not need to believe in God to make it through life but man seems to like the idea of there being one just in case. We give him credit for all the wonderful things that happen in life, but we also have him to blame when things suck. We made him the biggest, strongest, smartest and most powerful being ever. He’s one of a kind. No one comes close… and that’s the problem. Being the one and only means he is alone and lonely.

            We don’t need gods. We can exist with or without them. But gods need us. God can’t exist unless we believe in him. God did not create life, Life created us all, including Gods. Gods are not superior and people are not all equal. If gods have any power over our lives it’s only the power we give them. Gods are pretty special, but so are we. They have all the power, but we have all the fun.

            I think that, if they are real, gods need a way to play. They need us so they can know how to feel. They need us to help them experience what they have created. Gods are really rather pitiful and deserving of our sympathy. They are infinite entities who long for the finite. Immortals that can conceive all things possible but cannot experience any of the possibilities. They can imagine but never suffer the joys and terrors of the mortals that they created. We and all the things that live are life in all its infinite incarnations. We are what gods need to play.

            While we feel as humans, that we should strive to be as our gods; in reality, it is those gods that dwell in the realms of omniscience who envy us as we are. While we aspire to join gods and rise to heavens, I think that the gods wish they could join us. They are beings who can never know how it is to be. They create life but they can not know what it is to live.

            Creating life may be a God’s job; but getting a life is his goal.

Your Vote, Your Voice

 Your Vote, Your Voice

Michael Cannata

            There's a lot of talk going on about voter suppression. The impression is that states are purging their voter lists in an attempt to prevent people, especially poor people, read democrats, from voting.

            There may be some truth to the rumor. Maybe there are some local districts, maybe even entire states, where the effort to remove names from voter rolls is a blatant attempt by one party or the other to tilt the numbers of voters in their favor.

            In the interest of fairness, I just thought I'd offer my two cents.

            One of the most important elections in our country's history is fast approaching this November. The very future of America's political landscape is at stake. The voice of every voter must be heard.

            Keeping the voter rolls updated and accurate is an important task. Removing people that have died or moved away helps make maintaining them much easier. There are a lot of honest reasons why a voter's name may be deleted from the rolls. Public officials have a responsibility to make sure the information on their voters is current.

            So.... maybe it's a nefarious political plot... or maybe it's the result of over-zealous election officials that want to dot their I's and cross all their T's before the upcoming elections in November; With all the suspicions and accusation of voter fraud and Russian meddling, I really can't blame anyone for doing their best to make sure that anyone who votes, votes legally.

            There is no question that, come Election Day, some people who are properly registered may well find themselves prevented from voting, or find that they are in the wrong line, wrong district or that they are considered dead.

            I have a lot of ideas about how we can resolve a lot of the problems related to registering, tracking and identifying people when it comes time to vote on Election Day; Starting with the concept of "Election Day" itself.

            When it comes to federal elections that involve millions of people from every corner of the country we can't be in a hurry. We need to have an "Election Weekend."

            Stretching voting in a state or federal election over a few days would allow for the time needed to ensure that things go as smoothly as possible. It would allow time for everyone to find the time to make it to the polls. It would give a voter time to correct a mistake at the polls.

            Voters would have the time to obtain proper documentation and re-establish their right to vote and determine, in the case of an address change, where to vote if needed. More time to correct mistakes, regardless of who made them, would take a lot of pressure off of all involved. Most importantly it would give us the time to make sure the votes cast are counted correctly.

            I do believe a picture ID should be the preferred form of ID in order to vote in person at a polling station. For those who do not have a drivers license, picture ID's should be issued free of cost at any DMV, city or town hall, civic offices or post office.

            People confined to places like nursing homes and hospitals that are unable to physically go to a polling station should be given access to absentee ballots. Assistance in the process of properly identifying the voter and filing them should be the responsibility of the administrators of the facility.

            To help people stay in good standing everyone should be automatically re-registered whenever they renew their driver's license. Even if I don't vote for 10 years, Filing a tax return should serve as a notice of address and retain my right to vote. A recent tax return should serve as proof of current address.

            To remove the stigma of being targeted because you are a registered democrat or republican, election officials should not be allowed to ask for your party preference when registering.

            People should not be required to register as a member of any political party. Voter rolls should not identify a voter as a member of the democrat, republican or any other political party. IMO, everyone should be considered an independent when they enter the voting booth.  Who you vote for or what party you align with is a personal choice that you are free to reveal if you choose, but it doesn't need to be posted next to your name on the list of voters.

            Election officials have a civic responsibility to keep their voter information as current and accurate as possible. Voters have the same obligation.

            If you haven't voted in a long time... if you've moved to a new address, county or state, you need to go and make sure that the officials know who you are, where you are and that you are still alive.

            States may be purging names from their lists for whatever reason they see fit. Regardless, just because your name was removed, that doesn't mean you can't put it right back where it belongs.

            Voters need to understand one thing. Voting is one of those inalienable rights mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Most importantly, it is a right you need to exercise to be sure it isn't abused. No matter if they purged your name or you just let it go long enough that you may have been removed. Go to your local office and register or re-register now.

            There are 4 months until November. More than enough time for anyone who is serious about voting and wants to be sure their name is still on the rolls and the information is correct to make things right.

            Your vote is your voice. Don't be silenced by their actions or your inaction.