A fellow at work who started working in my dept recently told me he and the woman with whom he had been living for two years separated several months ago. They have twin daughters making this all the more painful. Living together outside wedlock has been common in Iceland for a long time, much longer than elsewhere and not viewed as “sinful.” Part of the reason: Iceland is a small nation where people know each other, like one big tribe. Actually, this is part of her history from the beginning (rather, clans and families). Thus living together is like moving in with one of your relatives. This fellow told me that Icelandic women tend to lord it over their husbands and families, something I’ve known for years and which would delight feminists from abroad. Yes, they have a particularly demanding way…not forceful but something more by their presence. No small wonder that Icelandic women view feminists with disdain, as behaving immaturely. I might insert a brief footnote here: Icelandic women certainly are among the most beautiful in the world, if not THE most beautiful!

When I was out at Krysuvik two days ago I was struck, as always, at the new and tortured landscape. Everything appeared to be in a jumble. However, it makes sense if you engage in contemplation which quickly I’d identify as suspending your thoughts. Looking at nature like this puts it into perspective, for then you could contemplate (the theory of) evolution as the way someone or something would manifest that which he or it would like to say. The glacial development of various species, rise and fall of mountain chains and the like, so unconnected with God, then fit in nicely. But that means you have to be careful about using this word “God.” All in all, we in the West got ourselves into quite a pickle with the theory of evolution and spirituality. On a level you rarely if ever hear, the real problem is that contemplation in the West is rare. If it were more developed as in places such as India and the like, we’d be in a better spot.