Episode 6: No Change is Permanent, But Change is

Click Here to download episode 6 (right-click and 'save link/target as')

"What I must do is die now. I must accept the justice of death and the injustice of life. I have lived a good life - longer than many, better than most. Tony died when he was twenty. I have had thirty-two years. I couldn't ask for another day. What did I do to deserve birth? It was a gift. I am me - that is a miracle. I had no right to a single hour. And yet I have had thirty-two years. Few can choose when they will die. I choose to accept death now. As of this moment I give up my 'right' to live." -Hugh Prather, Notes to Myself

"You've changed, China. You used to be cool."
"China still cool: you pay later. LATER!"
-Bart's Older/Future-Self to future Chinese Ambassador, The Simpsons

Change is an inevitable thing, and we discuss that and a whole basket of other topics in this week's "Reason Driven Podcast." Comedian, writer, and general philanthropist Dave Burdick joins in our discussion of Chapter 6 in the Reason Driven Life, which adds Buddhist wisdom to our material existence, and proposes a wild idea: maybe happiness in this life is a good thing to work towards (without the guilt, I might add). What is the American Dream? Should we care about Global Warming? All this and much much more! Check it out, and feel free to leave your comments and send us some hate-mail!

Point to Ponder: This world is fleeting, and so am I. Maybe I should learn to surf instead of drowning.

Quote to Remember: "I cannot 'make my mark' for all time-those concepts are mutually exclusive. 'Lasting effect' is a self-contradictory term. Meaning does not exist in the future and neither do I. Nothing will have meaning 'ultimately.' Nothing, will even mean tomorrow what it did today. Meaning changes with the context. My meaningfulness is here. It is enough that I am of value to someone today. It is enough that I make a difference now." -Hugh Prather, Notes to Myself

Question to Consider: Paul said that "if in Christ we have hope only for this present life, we are of all men the most miserable" (1 Corinthians 15:19). But Blaise Pascal said the Christian life would still be worth living even if it turned out there was nothing after death. Who was right?