Ministerial Meandering

Vacuums

 

I have just returned from outer space where I was trying to understand why

space was not a complete vacuum, and what the difference was between

black holes and white holes; ‘a white hole is a black hole running

backwards in time’ - you figure it out.

 

When I was in medical school, we were taught that ‘nature abhors a

vacuum’ - and it will thus attempt to fill it with something - even if only a few

particles of cosmic dust, probably a bit like Richard Dawkins - but he

produces a lot of hot air too, so that probably wouldn’t work, quite apart

from being rude.

I could give you lots of gruesome examples of ‘nature filling a vacuum’ from

the medical world, but then you might not enjoy your lunch.

 

For those of us still attached to the earth by its gravitational pull, a vacuum

is really defined as a place where pressure is lower than ambient pressure

(or one atmosphere at sea level). That’s why you get sucked out of the

aeroplane like Goldfinger, because cabin pressure is higher than the

outside pressure at 40,000 feet. And in case you’re wondering, he wouldn’t

have died because he hit the ground - he’d have been dead long before

that from asphyxiation - not enough oxygen to breathe at that height.

 

It would be fair to say, however, that it sometimes seems that the vacuum

is between my ears, and nature has a good way of filling that space up with

interstellar garbage, just like running into yet another piece of cosmic clutter

sent up by the Russians, North Koreans, or the Americans.

Unfortunately for us, we don’t have filters on our mental vacuums, and we

most definitely need them to sift out the amount of unhelpful thoughts and

sad ideas that worm their way into our minds. This is when we need the

mythical ‘white hole’ that can empty the trash; the University of Boulder,

Colorado, states it this way; ‘A white hole is a black hole running

backwards in time. Just as black holes swallow things irretrievably, so also

do white holes spit them out.’

Just what I said earlier - how smart are they!

 

But supposing that we don’t have a white hole in our head, and that

although postulated, they really don’t exist - then what?

Well, then we have to make sure that our minds don’t become vacuums at

all, and that we fill them with good material - not negative junk.

 

Paul said, in his letter to the Philippians, ‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true,

whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is

lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is

anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’

 

That’s good advice, I think, and it would certainly help us from allowing our

minds to become vacuums, where the cosmic rubbish like Dawkins and

Trump might get in; then you really would need a white hole to spit them

out!

 

Philip+

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