Today I will give you both an update and a “profound thought”.  Update first.

One of the volunteer trees we transplanted from my wife’s garden 2 years ago has died.  It grew to a respectable 8 feet tall (perhaps 10 feet) before the onset of winter 2019, but so far this spring it has shown no sign of continued life.

For some reason, this caused me to get introspective on the nature of life, death, and the “circle of life” – which my introspection led me to remembering a movie my wife and I have seen a few times.  It is called “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth”.   It is quite possibly the finest science-fiction story ever written.  If you haven’t seen it, I strongly urge you to rent it.  If you have access to the online streaming service TUBI you can watch it for free right now.  We did, just last night.

I won’t give you any spoilers, but the “profound thought” for today comes from that movie.  It is a statement made by the fictional character called (in the movie) John Oldman, and is a telling analysis that equally applies to any organized religion.

“Piety is not what the lessons bring to people, it is the mistake they bring to the lessons.”