The electron has no mass (weight) I once stated in a blog.  I was wrong.  It has a weight of 1 assigned to it, to compare it to the other particles of the atomic nucleus.  The particle with no weight is the particle of light, the photon, which Einstein discovered by another name.

It changes its name to gluon when it binds the parts, quarks, of the proton, a large part of the atomic nucleus.  Sound confusing?  It is also confusing to the scientists who study quantum physics, so don’t feel bad. 

Can you imagine that the Creator made things so complicated that the best brains of humankind (which He also created) have not yet solved all the mysteries of quantum mechanics?  Here’s to the Creator!

Democritus (400 BC) said that Creation consists of “atoms and the void.”  He was right, but how does God get taste and smell, color, hot and cold, night and day out of that?  There’s still plenty of room for scientists.  We make the most of it.

Creation is still a marvel—a spiritual being making material (dirt) and non-material (electrons) things out of nothing.  That’s a half-step from the purely spiritual.  And then the butterflies, birds, buffalos, elephants, whales, what more can we ask for?

I think Democritus was guessing, and we probably still have to guess somewhat.  We don’t know everything.  Have you had some dark matter with your quantum quarks lately?

I changed dentists to have one closer to home, so the old dentist sent me my last x-ray.  I put it on my desk with miscellaneous papers.  Came the time to retrieve it, I couldn’t remember where I’d put it.

I went through my file cabinet—no results.  I went through the papers on my desk—no results.  So I said a prayer to what the Christians call the Holy Spirit (the loss of the x-ray was a memory problem).

I was prompted to go through the papers on my desk again, and there it was!  You just have to give God a chance.

There are some of us, myself included, whose response to a new situation is negative; you might say sour or cynical.  That is far from joyful like that of Francis of Assisi, who gave away his earthly possessions and so had to depend on the munificence of Nature and others (God) for all his enjoyments.  But he did take joy in life; he was positive.

Was there a robin whose ducking for a meal brought a merry laugh from him?  Were there children whose games made him wish for younger limbs?  The daily festival uncovered by Brother Sun and the silvery landscape by Sister Moon are part of everybody’s enjoyment,

So don’t let your attitude becloud the day.  Enjoy.

The Big Sur beachfront in California houses a new hermitage of the strict order of the Camaldolese, hermits who follow St. Benedict’s rule.  They came to the U.S. at the suggestion of Thomas Merton, author of Seven Story Mountain. 

They wasted no time in adapting.  They joined ranks with some Episcopalian monks, while remaining in the Church, and helped them build their monastery, also near Big Sur.

They even did some preaching on the Berkeley Campus, but stayed centered at Big Sur.  They conduct retreats and live the liturgical life of the Church.  No bingo or evening poker games.