A man is dying and, as he reaches the point of greatest
physical distress, he hears himself pronounced dead by
his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a
loud ringing or buzzing, and at the same time feels himself
moving very rapidly through a long, dark tunnel. After
this, he finds himself outside of his own physical body…
Soon, other things begin to happen. Others come to meet
and help him. He glimpses the spirits of relatives and
friends who have already died, and a loving, warm spirit
of a kind he has never encountered before--a being of
light—appears before him…. (and) presents to the person
a panoramic review of his life…The review, almost
always described as a display of visual imagery, is
incredibly vivid and real. *     
 
 The above description of a paradigmatic Near Death Experience (NDE) is taken from Raymond Moody’s 1975 book, Life After Life. Moody is a medical doctor who has also earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. He coined the phrase “Near Death Experience” and for almost fifty years has continued to study the phenomenon. In the debate I recently watched, Moody, of course, supported the proposition that death is not final.

Joining and supporting him in the debate was Dr. Eben Alexander, a renowned neurosurgeon whose 2012 book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, was on the New York Times’ non-fiction bestseller list for over a year.

* (For a naturalistic explanation of the life review, click HERE.)

Opposing the proposition were Sean Carroll and Steven Novella. Carrol is a physicist and author who has taught at Harvard University and is presently on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. His debate partner, Steven Novella, is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He’s also the host and producer of a popular weekly science podcast, The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe.

The debate itself was sponsored by the Intelligence Squared Foundation. It may be viewed in its entirety on the the Wondrium site (which offers a free trial subscription.) Complete closing arguments can be viewed on YouTube by clicking HERE.

In his opening statement, Moody, of course, summarized the results of his decades-long study of NDEs; and Eben Alexander recounted his own personal NDE. In 2008, Alexander—at the time a “reductive materialist”—fell gravely ill with a meningococcal infection that destroyed the functionality of his neo-cortex and even almost shut down the activity of his brain stem. Astonishingly, Eben Alexander not only survived, but made a complete recovery. He has vivid memories of visiting an ultra-real realm of joy and love while he was effectively brain dead. This, he maintains, is evidence of an after-life.

Sean Carrol presents himself as a naturalist who believes in one natural world, the subject of scientific investigation. He reminds us that the human brain constructs its picture of reality and may often be mistaken in what it perceives. He doesn’t doubt that Eben Alexander had the experience of an ultra-real realm but doubts that Alexander’s experience corresponds to anything real. He reminds us that anecdotal experiences are notoriously unreliable and that brains under stress can concoct deceptive experiences. And Carrol asks how an immaterial soul or spirit could possibly interact with a material brain.

Novella asserts that the mind is the product of brain processes and that when the brain is changed or damaged, that change is reflected in the mind. So, when the brain is dead, the mind or “soul” is also dead. Novella asks if we really want to cast aside the scientific paradigm of the brain in favor of NDEs. With Carrol, he maintains that we can’t really know what activity was occurring in Eben Alexander’s supposedly dead brain. Perhaps parts of his neo-cortex were still working and capable of imagining an ultra-real realm. Alternatively, perhaps Alexander’s images of “Heaven” arose during his recovery when the neo-cortex was again beginning to function.

Well, in the IQ2 format, the audience votes before and after the debate. Whichever side receives the highest percentage of vote changes is declared the winner. In this debate, the initial vote was 37% for the proposition that death is not final, 31% against, and 32% undecided. In the second vote, 42% agreed with the proposition while 46% voted for the finality of death. Thus, the Carrol-Novella team won.  

Who do I think won? I’m not sure, but—from my Catholic Church days—I can’t forget the last line of the Nicene Creed. “We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” Of course, that statement is dogma, the product of faith, and wouldn’t win many points in a debate.  

~ Richard Russell   
         
 

I can’t tell whether this worked for me—but who knows? What follows is an (almost) direct quote from a YouTube video that may be found HERE.

The ring finger shows how much testosterone you were exposed to in your mother’s womb. And testosterone can have an influence on your personality. The length of your ring finger reveals your personality type.

There are three different types of hand. In Type A, the ring finger is longer than the index finger. People whose ring finger is longer tend to be more attractive. Many of them are quite charming and get along well with others. Scientists have found that people with a longer ring finger earn more money.     

In Type B, the ring finger is shorter than the index finger. Such people are more confident and have high self-esteem. They like to be alone. When it comes to love, they are not the ones to make the first move.

In Type C, people with equal-sized ring and index fingers love peace. They are good mediators and loving, loyal partners. They are usually more balanced, quiet, and reserved than others.

Now you know how to size up your competition or pick your future partner—just in case you want to know what kind of person you’re dealing with.  

 Well, I’m Type A. I don’t think of myself as attractive, charming, and amiable; but perhaps I am. Certainly, I’ve earned more money than average, but my teacher’s salary was always low compared to other professionals (doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.).

Does YOUR ring finger predict your personality type? Let me know by commenting on this post.

~ Richard Russell

Are you amiable and easy-going in OCMM committee and business meetings, or does your attitude habitually cause conflict and irritation? To find out whether you are a “difficult person,” click HERE for the difficult person test. Don’t be afraid. Most Quakers will score quite low as regards their personal difficultness (I think). After all, Friends are—by and large—committed to calmness and listening to others’ point of view. For example, even yours truly passed the test with a score of 18.57 on a scale of 100, making me “a VERY easy person to get along with.”

Of course, judging from the circular graph analyzing my responses, I did score about 40 on the subscales of grandiosity and aggression with perhaps a 10 on callousness. My other scores—in the categories of suspicion, manipulativeness, dominance, and risk-taking—were hardly visible. So, the test confirms that I need to work on managing anger and my ego.

Find out where you could improve. Don’t be afraid. Take the test.

~ Richard Russell

A recent edition of The Daily Stoic made the point that our present lives are “messages for the future.” How we react to present misfortunes informs our ability to weather future adversity. If we have formed the habit of seeing life’s ups and downs as inevitable, as a part of being alive, we are in a better position to withstand the low points of our future lives.

Reframing the idea, our present is the product of our past, some of which is under our control, most of which is not. So, I ask myself, what in the past made me who I am today?  What past events or experiences contributed to my present personality and character? 

My beloved Grandfather’s Baptist faith and the Counterculture of the 60’s and 70’s were, I believe, formative “messages from God.” An abusive father and a recurrent, clinical depression were “messages from the Evil One.” Or, if you want to be less mythological, they were positive and negative experiences that had to be integrated into my personality, my mode of being. And so, the (relatively) calm and mature Quaker that I am today was the result of God and the Devil fighting for my soul. God won out—but I know that there will be struggles in my personal future.

While I may presently look to the Stoic philosophers for help as I pass into old age, my main recourse must surely be the Inner Light, which—if I habitually live in that Presence now—will more faithfully illuminate my path to come.

~ Richard Russell

Here is some doggerel verse in Spanish, followed by a rough English translation. Originally written to a girlfriend of mine, it represents an aspect of my personality that survives a more sober Quakerism.

Te veo en frente de mí sentada
Y ya me encanta tu forma de gesto.
¡Como te mueves de niña traviesa,
Como te ríes burlando en juego!
 
Me atrae la blusa un poco abierta,
Me atrae el arete hecho de oro.
Chispas de luz adornan la mejilla,
Hipnotizándome el suave brillo.
 
A veces te pareces niña dichosa,
¡Toda una mujer es la que eres!
 
I see you sitting in front of me
And already your gestures enchant me.
How you move like a playful little girl,
How you laugh and make fun of me.
 
I like the blouse a little bit open,
I like the golden earring.
Flashes of light adorn your cheek,
I’m hypnotized by their soft glimmer.
 
Sometimes you seem like a happy little girl,
Wholly a woman is what you are!
 
 ~ Richard Russell  
 
 

I’ve recently joined the BrainHealth Project, a clinical study currently soliciting volunteers. Its research goal is to ascertain whether certain strategies can maintain and even improve brain health over a ten-year period. Entirely online, study participants do brain-training exercises and receive lifestyle advice from in person coaches every three months together with a new brain index test every six months. Areas of possible improvement include diet, sleep and exercise habits, memory strategies, abstraction ability, and social connections. My initial brain health index has not yet been evaluated, and I’ve yet to talk to a coach; but my first impression of the project is very positive. I wonder whether other OCMM members might not be interested in joining the study.

I believe that my score on the social connections part of the index must have been very good—largely because of the friends I’ve made at Old Chatham Meeting. Even though those relationships play out online or by phone/email, I think they’ve probably kept my depressive tendencies (currently controlled by medication) from sneaking into consciousness.

I suspect that my Christocentric focus places me in a minority at Old Chatham, but I’m glad that the acceptance and friendship of members does not seem to be affected by that personal perspective. Of course, Zoom limits the amount of everyday conversation that cements relationships. That’s the main reason I’m flying out to New York in May, hopefully to a re-opened meeting house.

And, just as St. Paul said “Thanks be to God” for the Christians in Corinth, so I say “Thanks be to God” for the Quakers in Old Chatham!  

~ Richard Russell   

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied to Jesus. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12: 28-34; edited from NIV)
 
Sex is usually thought of as a fun activity. But, if the partners so engaged strive with all their heart and strength, they may sometimes experience a transcendent ecstasy. Each person may be filled with love of self but simultaneously feel an equal love for the other person. And after the physical act of love, their minds may turn to the experience and intuit that there is something spiritual in the encounter, that there has been a meeting of souls as well as bodies. And although these two people may not specifically think of the Divine, they may—perhaps—see their union as a mystical oneness extending beyond themselves.

As Jesus says, they are “not far from the Kingdom of God.”

~ Richard Russell

Well, it’s time (foolishly?) to publish another of my Spanish language poems. The “I” (yo) of the poem speaks to a “you” (te). That might be a man addressing a woman, a woman addressing a man, or a Quaker silently worshipping God. Following the Spanish poem is a non-poetic English translation. Let’s assume (ahem) that any errors in the Spanish are due to poetic license and not the result of my imperfect knowledge of the language.    
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo rezara en la oscuridad
          Y de repente entrara en la iglesia
          Un rayo de luz, una brisa del Cielo.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo subiera una montaña
          Hasta alcanzar la cima sombrada,
          Hasta descansar en el nublado azul.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si yo temblara del frío
          En la noche invernal
          Y yo viera encender el foco
          Iluminando la comida y el café.
 
Cuando te hablo
          Es como si me hablaran
          Los latidos del corazón
          Y se perdieran tranquilos
          En el silencio de tu Amor.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I were praying in the darkness
          And there suddenly came into the church
          A ray of light, a breeze from Heaven.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I climbed a mountain
          Till I reached the shadowed summit
          Till I rested in the clouded blue.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if I were trembling from cold
          In the winter night
          And saw the light turn on
          Illuminating the food and coffee.
 
When I talk to you
          It’s as if the beating of my heart
          Were speaking words
          Tranquil but disappearing
          In the silence of your Love. 
 
~ Richard Russell