As symbolized by the Double Triangle figure to the left, each of us is truly the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. The family tree of an individual has the form of this Double Triangle, with the individual at the focus where the two triangular points meet. The upper triangle represents the ancestry of the individual which expands as one goes back in time: two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, and on and on. The lower point of the upper triangle is the culmination of this long ancestry in a single individual. The lower triangle represents the descendents of the individual which also tend to expand in number with successive generations. Each person is thus a singular gate between a vast past and an expansive future. We must revere our ancestors since they have made us what we are, both genetically and culturally. God is not our maker, our ancestors are.
We must treasure and educate our children since it is they that provide an afterlife for us in their thoughts, in their actions, and in their genes. The verses from the Epic of Gilgamesh that so obsessed Abraham in An Accidental God symbolize the reality of our afterlife.
“In the world below have you seen the man with no son?”
“Yes I have seen the man with no son.”
“How goes it with the man with no son in the world below?”
“The man with no son sits by the wall in the world below and weeps.”
“Have you seen in the world below a man with two sons?”
“Yes I have seen the man with two sons in the world below.”
“How goes it in the world below with the man with two sons?”
“The man with two sons in the world below sits on a stone and eats some bread.”
“Have you seen in the world below a man with five sons?”
“Yes I have seen the man with five sons in the world below.”
“How goes it in the world below with the man with five sons?”
“The man with five sons in the world below is treated like a scribe to a king.”
In An Accidental God, Abraham left no genetic descendants but his intellectual and cultural afterlife was expansive, because the Double Triangle has a more profound meaning when it is applied to the evolution of human thought. The Upper Triangle represents the culture, history, and ideas that have come before. A selection of this vast amount of information converges into an individual’s mind, and there the individual forms their own thoughts and ideas. Through the mystery of human consciousness we are able to draw in what has come before and sometimes we synthesize totally new insights, ideas, and understanding. These thoughts and opinions truly define the individual and form the most significant basis for their future legacy in the lower triangle. Our thoughts, unlike our genes, can draw broadly from a wide range of places, times, and cultures. And, unlike our genes, our thoughts have the potential for influence that goes far beyond our actual biological descendents. The Double Triangle represents the convergence and subsequent divergence of information–genetic, intellectual, cultural, as it flows from the past into the future through each individual human being.
We must treasure and educate our children since it is they that provide an afterlife for us in their thoughts, in their actions, and in their genes. The verses from the Epic of Gilgamesh that so obsessed Abraham in An Accidental God symbolize the reality of our afterlife.
“In the world below have you seen the man with no son?”
“Yes I have seen the man with no son.”
“How goes it with the man with no son in the world below?”
“The man with no son sits by the wall in the world below and weeps.”
“Have you seen in the world below a man with two sons?”
“Yes I have seen the man with two sons in the world below.”
“How goes it in the world below with the man with two sons?”
“The man with two sons in the world below sits on a stone and eats some bread.”
“Have you seen in the world below a man with five sons?”
“Yes I have seen the man with five sons in the world below.”
“How goes it in the world below with the man with five sons?”
“The man with five sons in the world below is treated like a scribe to a king.”
In An Accidental God, Abraham left no genetic descendants but his intellectual and cultural afterlife was expansive, because the Double Triangle has a more profound meaning when it is applied to the evolution of human thought. The Upper Triangle represents the culture, history, and ideas that have come before. A selection of this vast amount of information converges into an individual’s mind, and there the individual forms their own thoughts and ideas. Through the mystery of human consciousness we are able to draw in what has come before and sometimes we synthesize totally new insights, ideas, and understanding. These thoughts and opinions truly define the individual and form the most significant basis for their future legacy in the lower triangle. Our thoughts, unlike our genes, can draw broadly from a wide range of places, times, and cultures. And, unlike our genes, our thoughts have the potential for influence that goes far beyond our actual biological descendents. The Double Triangle represents the convergence and subsequent divergence of information–genetic, intellectual, cultural, as it flows from the past into the future through each individual human being.