Time Out: A Second Look at Nature

By Cal Mbano

Time Out: A Second Look at Nature engages readers with an opportunity to ask, examine, and ponder critical questions which fundamentally challenge conventional thinking and beliefs about God, nature and our very humanness. It is natural to be curious about such questions but we are trained as children that it is forbidden to ask them. <

• Language: English
• Publisher: EC Publishing LLC
• Release date: Sep 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953821348

Cal Mbano

Callistus Mbano, Cal, is a keen lover of nature, mathematics and science. His unique perspective of the world comes through a lens that looks deeply into the environment and delves into the everyday situations of life. Cal’s distinct world view is broadened by his having traversed both time and space from the developing worlds to highly technological ones. He grew up in an indigenous Igbo village in the hinterland of Nigeria; survived the Biafran war; later became a civil engineer and teacher. Cal earned his BS. Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Masters Degree in Civil Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI and Teaching Certification at the University of Phoenix, AZ. He is well traveled and loves sharing his unique experiences with the people that he meets. He always has time for enjoying the simplicities of life with others especially his four grandchildren. Take time out for a second look at nature’ with Cal! You’re sure to gain a greater consciousness, curiosity and appreciation for what nature teaches us about life. Please visit or contact Cal on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cmbano19 

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Copyright © 2021 by Cal Mbano.

ISBN 978-1-953821-34-8 Ebook

ISBN 978-1-953821-33-1 Paperback

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AbouT the Author

Fig. 1: The Author

Callistus Mbano, Cal, is a keen lover of nature, mathematics, and science. His unique perspective of the world comes through a lens that looks deeply into the environment and delves into the everyday situations of life. Cal’s distinct world view is broadened by his having traversed both time and space from the developing worlds to highly technological ones. He grew up in an indigenous Igbo village in the hinterland of Nigeria, survived the Biafran war, later became a civil engineer and teacher.

Cal earned his BS. Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, and Teaching Certification at the University of Phoenix, AZ. He is well-traveled and loves sharing his unique experiences with the people that he meets. He always has time for enjoying the simplicities of life with others, especially his four grandchildren. Take ‘time out for a second look at nature’ with Cal! You’re sure to gain higher consciousness, curiosity, and appreciation for what nature teaches us about life.

Please visit or contact Cal on Facebook -http://www.facebook.com/CalMbano

Email: [e-mail]

Dedication

To my wife Cheryl Mbano,

whose contribution and encouragement

saw this work through.

Keynote

Time Out: for a Second Look at Nature by Cal Mbano

explores the meaning of life,

the causes of unhappiness and how to restore joy to our world and maintain

wholeness from a naturalist perspective.

Key Words

Creator, God, earth, heaven, religion, culture, nature, nurture, man, woman, Nigeria, America, British, Europeans, Ns Factor, evil, kindness, unhappiness, forest, solar system, recycling, animal, plants, food, outlier, terrorism, wars, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, IRA, PLO, Israel, Jews, Al-Qaeda, ISIS.

Introduction

This book examines the state of the earth and why it’s becoming increasingly intolerable –the evils and unhappiness are now the status quo for far too many people. Is it due to nature, nurture, or the combination of the two? Considering the advancements in science, technology - human knowledge - one would think that the earth is a much happier place. But did the Maker know this would be the case? Did He intend it to be so? Time Out considers these questions and proposes answers.

In our busy everyday living, we lack the consciousness of who we are, how our planet earth came to be our home, who put us on it, and why and our duties here on earth. This constant bedeviling amnesia induces neglect of our responsibilities: to take care of ourselves, one another, and the world. This state impacts us all since the consequences of unhappiness and the different evils we experience here have overwhelmed us. Some people have gone as far as denying the existence of the Creator as a result. Despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, those who persist on this route, including all the phenomena and wonders we experience daily throughout our lives, have themselves to blame.

I am not a psychologist, astrophysicist, or sociologist. My claim to science is only a master’s degree in Civil Engineering. But I am an ardent lover of nature, the physical world, and a voracious reader. Time Out is about my observations of and interactions with the environment through which I became an unshakable believer in the Creator.

There is nothing spiritual about this work. There has been a lot of literature about the spirit, God. These writings can be found in the ‘holy’ books. I have a hard time understanding the metaphysical world because man, a creature bounded by time and space, can’t think or reason in the realm of spirits. This statement in no way tries to contradict or negate the fact that the Almighty God can do as He pleases, including endowing some humans and animals with unique abilities to do things unnatural for their kinds.

Yes, that is our Creator, a spirit, all-powerful, with all knowledge and alone by Himself. Do these not explain why earthly and mortal humans cannot understand who the Creator is, leading them to rely on hear-say for knowledge and a leap of faith to believe in Him? This confusion resulted from early childhood instructions intending to provide insight and understanding of the Creator through the lens of ancient stories that have no contemporary significance. Hence, humans are in never-ending disobedience to His laws and incurring consequences as a result. How differently it could have been if humans were taught to study Nature - all created things in their environment - to observe God’s writings to learn who the Creator is.

Since this writing is about frequent everyday observations available to an average person, I have taken care to keep it simple, in standard English Language with little scientific jargon. A friend wondered why a book of this theme does not contain citations, quotes, and examples from other literature on a similar subject. This book does not need all those because the information contained herein is self-evident. Distinct natural occurrences, though overlooked, need no supporting evidence or scientific proof. For example, a statement like: Tomorrow will be another day is self-evident.

The Designer and the owner of our earth and all the universe, all things visible and invisible, we call God in the English language; Chiukwu in Igbo (Ibo) language; Shen or Shangdi in the Chinese language; Allah in the Arabic language, etc. God can’t go by one Universal name but by as many words as there are languages. It is confusing to hear some people argue that God has only one ‘proper’ and ‘befitting’ name. No! All these names refer to the Creator to those with open minds. Because of the lack of a universal term for the Creator, we use the following pronouns: He, Him, and His.

Nothing in His designs or creations shows that the Creator is either male or female. But considering all He created, the care and love showered on the earthly creations would make more sense to describe the Creator as female. Besides, through females, specifically mothers, their care and love, all living things we see continue to exist here on earth. Also, there have been great Queens who ruled their kingdoms, which means that the ruler-ship ability does not only belong to males. Also, consider the expressions Mother Nature or Mother Earth – all-female designations. So, there is no reason the Creator cannot be a female.

Then again, males are associated with power and strength. In the circumstances requiring power and strength, generally, the males of all the earthly creatures know it is their duty to deal with them. Think about the first-time humans encountered the oceans, seas, and even the rivers, stretching for miles with no end in sight. Those incredible creations struct them with fear and deep respect for the Creator. Think of the first Time those ancient peoples experienced thunder and lightning and even the Sun. They must have been struck similarly because of the strength and power of these creations. It is clear and understandable why they went as far as worshipping some of them.

In all these instances, what they saw was a show of strength and power, which are the dominant characteristics of males, males of all types of creatures. In ancient times, generally, males were heads of all institutions, starting with the families, the first institution humans knew. All these could explain why ‘He’ instead of ‘she’ is used to describe the Creator.

The phrase Final Day or The Day of Judgement is a common expression that needs no explanation. People use the two names interchangeably. It is assumed in some quarters that there will be a day, date, and time unknown to any human being (not the angels or any of the prophets). At the time, the Creator will call all human beings, dead or living, to appear before His Majesty and Glory to account for individual stewardship here on earth. At the end of this exercise, reward (heaven) or punishment (hell) will be meted accordingly. ‘That Day’ also suggests that there have been and will be periods of waiting for allocation following death. Those who have already died and those who will die before that ‘Day’ will have to stay somewhere, not in heaven (a place of enjoyment) or Hell (a place of punishment). Some suggest that the waiting will be in a halfway-house type of accommodation called ‘Purgatory.’

There is nothing in the creation that alludes to the existence of that ‘Day.’ That expression is so ridiculous it should not merit further discussion. Why? The scenario suggests a lack of knowledge and hence, unpreparedness on the part of the Creator. How could this be? The Creator is All-Knowing!

That would be out of character for the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, the Omniscience. From examining all things around us, it is easy to understand that the ‘Day’ is referring to a time of transgression or the Time the Creator›s rule is disregarded. Therefore, there is no ‘one’ day but as many days as the transgressions. Also, reward or punishment is always proportional to the act and starts as soon as the deed was done.

A scenario will help to clarify this point: It might be difficult to believe that many of those seen as wealthy - having nothing to worry about, having all that money can buy – suffer incredibly. If these people open their private lives or explain how they amassed the wealth, many people will prefer poverty; leading me to conclude: money or wealth can buy the best bed available on this earth’ but can they also buy a good night’s sleep in the bed"? Think of people who have such a bed, but their eyes stay wide open throughout the night! Why? Guilt, the punishment for what they have done, has already started. The penalty is the ‘Day.’

Also, consider time! Though intangible, time is as important as the Sun’s energy, air, water, food, etc., in the lives of all living things. A human baby takes approximately nine months before it is ready to be born. Various times are needed with other animals. Eggs from different types of animals need time for readiness to hatch. Even the seeds of plants need time to become seedlings, produce fruits or become ready for eating. No child at birth can sit up, crawl, talk, reason, etc. These stages of life need time to become what they are created to be. Humans figured out that all activities here on earth require time to get their food and eat it. There is an element of time in all that living things do. It takes time to prepare food and to eat it.

At the beginning of time, humans worshiped some of God’s creations like the Sun, the Rainbow, etc., because they did not know that those things were created by the same Creator that created them and did not possess any power over them. It was time that made the difference between their knowledge at their first encounters and the subsequent understanding of those creations.

Think of all the evils committed by humans because of lack of knowledge: At a time in some communities, twins were rejected as an evil omen; transgender and lesbian people were even killed because humans did not know better. But with time, they acquired the knowledge to understand that those conditions were as created by God.

It is inevitable then that human knowledge will continue to advance into sectors previously unimaginable. Inventions and discoveries will continue forever. Diseases and their causes will be better understood. The full potential of the medicinal values of plants and vegetables will be known and exploited, making it unnecessary to use chemicals to cure or manage diseases or enhance the quality of life, the soil, water, and environment. Then there will be no need to try to redesign, recheck the Creator’s work. Humans will eventually understand the power, knowledge, and wisdom of the Creator. Time will make all these possible.

It makes sense to believe that everything will be in accord with the Creator; humans would have understood the meaning and full potential of Free Will and man’s Ego. Then humans will realize the Creator’s original intention - the earth will become the Paradise it was created to be.

The current state of the world continues, but ‘soon’ will run its course. Then understand why this world’s evils – selfishness, cheating, murder, poverty, unhappiness, etc., defy solutions. Even advanced communities suffer the same human problems as less developed communities. Why? All created need time to become what they are designed to be. Time!

Time like Distance or Space is earthly. Time does not affect the Creator. Otherwise, the creation of the Universe would have been impossible. How long would it require to take the universe’s physical measurement, count the number of stars, galaxies, etc., not to talk of creating each one? Also, while time is needed to get things done or things become realities, it has limiting effects – items don’t reach fruition as fast as humans would want them to. Wouldn’t humans desire to solve all human problems immediately, in no time? Yes! But it will never happen that way unless they figure out how to eliminate the Time factor.

A good question to ask would be whether there were other reasons why the Creator included time in the living things’ environment. The orange seedling should become a matured fruiting tree if time is not involved. A baby will start walking as soon as it was born if time is absent. There is no reasonable answer to the question. The Creator has His reasons unknown to humans. Will humans understand all the mysteries in creation with time? Only the Creator can answer that question. It makes sense to believe that secrets the Creator reserves to Himself, not revealed to His angels or the prophets.

Finally, I am asking for an open mind in reading this book. Why? You may find some statements rather unconventional, outside the norms. Any information repeated many times for an extended period becomes a ‘fact’ in the human mind, i.e., hard to shake off. It is true with many of our beliefs—human’s way.

Right from the beginning of time, the Creator was explained to us by ‘Holy People’ or those who claimed to have been commissioned by Him, as a spirit being which He is. If the Creator appointed those people to teach us, why the confusion, the misconception of who the Creator is, leading to our disobeying His laws and the consequent never-ending suffering here on earth? What we should understand here is that humans are earthly creatures, not spirits. And baring divine intervention, humans cannot understand or reason in spirit.

Humans failed to understand they had no other choice than to study His creations, in their orbit, to understand who He is. The behavior of those who believe they could communicate with God in spirit proves this. These spirit believers, in extreme cases, are left with no other choice but to take a ‘leap of faith.’ It does not make sense that the way to understand or relate to the Creator is to take a ‘leap’ of faith! Such behavior is the reason for all the confusion and the consequences thereof.

Would it stand to reason that the Creator of our complicated Universe, the ever-knowing God, the Alpha, and Omega, would require or expect His earthly creatures to relate to or understand Him in spirit? That would be unusual and out of character. Indeed, He does as He pleases. There is nothing in our world that shows that was His intention. Instead, He left a lot of the extensions of Himself – His creations – that would render trying to understand Him in spirit, unnecessary. This book examines these extensions of Him in detail to try to explain some understanding of who the Creator is.

Chapter 1

Reminiscence

At a young age, I learned from my mother that I was ‘created’ by God. And that there was only one God that created everything (both the things that my eyes could see and the invisible ones). The response was a part of her answer to my childish question, Who made me, you or my father. Then she inquired as to how I came about such a question.

When I was playing with my friends, we argued about who made children – the father or the mother? One boy said it was the father, but another said it was the mother. The oldest among us said it was both the mother and the father. I was confused because I was thinking of who provided the food; we always ate, which I assumed was my mother. My mind never strayed to thinking about the phrase, ‘making a child.’ I did not know children were ‘made,’ not to talk of who ‘made’ them.

My mother’s answer created more questions and confusion in my tender mind. Has anybody seen God making anything before? Did any person see him making all these things? Did I not hear right that my father built our house? Or was it God that created it? My mother added, making me more troubled, that besides creating people, God also created everything. He was the most powerful and knew everything. Almost whispering, I asked her whether God was more powerful than my father, whom I thought, previously, was the greatest. When my mother answered yes to that question, the mother-son conversation ended abruptly. Someone was higher than my father! Someone was greater than my father. How could that be possible!

Later in life, I was baptized, making me a Christian, and then I learned that there were three persons (beings) in that ‘one’ God, a concept known as the ‘Holy Trinity.’ I had never heard of such a description or seen three things that form one thing, and at the same time, the individual components existed as separate entities and equal in all respect.

When I thought about this three-in-one concept, I used to think about the Igbo soup my mother Prepared. Could that be like the Trinity? She used different ingredients to make this soup, like water, thickener, crayfish, meat, vegetables, oil, salt, and pepper. All these were boiled together, starting with water and the rest added at their proper times.

I saw the problem with this analogy. The obvious one was the number: There were ‘three’ persons in the Trinity but eight items in the soup. The figure did not bother me as much as the ‘fact’ that each entity stands on its own in the Trinity, and they are equal in all respect. But if you take a spoon of the Igbo soup, you cannot pick out the water, the thickener, the oil, the salt, and hardly the pepper. The original forms of the fish, meat, and vegetables had changed.

Chapter 2

The Question

The question, How can three different entities, equal in all respect to each other, be one entity? That question remains unanswered even today, notwithstanding the introduction of the new concept, Mystery. The situation remains the same because the new word mystery – a fact which the human mind could not comprehend did not help matters. However, my curiosity did not end there but was somewhat heightened.

As I observed all things around me and noted how complicated those things were in their natures, it became apparent that a being with supernatural powers and knowledge, God, created them, both the visible and invisible. The sheer number of things I saw and the incredible distances I came to know convinced me that it was God, not humans, that created everything. Yes, there must be a being with infinite powers and knowledge. Isn’t it rather foolishness for anybody to believe that there is no God, that things created themselves, or just evolved by themselves?

Observing the complicated natures of created things in our orbit makes it clear God exists. But why all the wars, killings, poverty, different types of evils, and unhappiness, but only a few pockets of kindness? Wars and murders seemed to be a part of the human story.

The killing started when there were only a few people here on this earth, as legend has it: The story of a brother against his brother – Cain and Abel. Then came inter-tribal wars, as the population of the earth grew, and later, international battles. Finally, we participated in or hear stories of world wars. Now the killing has increased in frequency, magnitude, and sophistication. It is not restricted to one corner of the earth. No! It is seen everywhere. While you can observe poverty everywhere, it is more prevalent in less advanced economies.

Wars, killings, and poverty combined produced all sorts of evils and unhappiness. Modern wars are taking a new shape in the form of terrorism, cyber, and electronic warfare. Here the perpetrators of violence are invisible. There is no battle line. The world is a place of survival of the fittest. The rich get wealthier while the poor, poorer.

It is arguable to say that there is a fair amount of human kindness even in the face of the Self-first mentality. There have been some people who devoted their entire lives to the service of others. After amassing incredible wealth, many wealthy people spend the last years of their lives doing charity work. Yet, there is so much unhappiness, insecurity on this earth. Even the so-called rich are not immune to it, as evidenced by divorce, bitter family court battles, family breakups, suicides, etc. Why?

At this point, three more questions come to mind when one examines the state of this earth. First, is this what the Creator designed the world to be? Second, is the creation not complete? Or was there a mistake in the design? I am tempted to think that this state of the earth shows a disagreement among the ‘three entities’ in one God during the creation. These questions and their answers have baffled peoples’ minds over the millennia and remain the same even today.

How easy it would have been to get answers to these questions, if possible, to table the questions to the Designer! Of course, and because humans are earthly, doing this would be impossible or beyond human abilities. The only alternative is to seek the answers by examining what the Designer created: the earth and the extent of human capability, the universe. This book will explore all created to find the answer.

Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, the ‘worth’ of a man is measured by his achievements in the society - his unique personal achievements, not his father’s or his mother’s! The achievements generally begin with first getting married and start a family. Any man who has not reached this lowest level of the ladder of success was often, at least theoretically, not accorded men’s full rights in society. In the village meetings or such gatherings, such men were not given ‘full but half-cups of wine to recognize their statue or level in the village. Even achieving this level was not a piece of cake’: the young man had to prove to his family and the would-be in-laws he was up to the task of having a family. In other words, he had to demonstrate he could take care of himself, a wife, children and maintain a family.

Various communities set their terms like a show of barns of yams, ownership of large numbers of animals like goats, cows, landed properties, etc. In each case, the young man was required to extend his wealth to his would-be in-laws. This requirement was how ‘bride price’ was born. This method of proving oneself ready for marriage persists in some of the Igbo communities even today.

Currently, that method of assessing worthiness has taken a new form. Suppose a young man acquires an education, which would be an acceptable equivalence because education was a sure way to make money and live a decent life. In those days, obtaining a ‘Standard 6’ certificate ensured a permanent and lucrative job. If a young man is engaged in a profitable business, that would also be acceptable. Until very recently, no families allowed their daughters to marry men with no means of livelihood.

The young woman was expected to have gone through a family education – raised under the tutelage of a steady-headed mother. In those days, unlike these days, there were many such mothers. Such a woman was first a wife/comforter, then a mother. In the absence of the man, the wife knew to take over the management of the family. The terms wife and mother have deep meanings in those days in Igboland. Then a family was made up of a father, mother, and children.

Getting married and raising a family are placed on the last rung of the lather of success because this is what all living things do. A dog raises a family, so also a rooster and all animals, including plants. Therefore, there is nothing spectacular about raising a family. However, there is a complete description of a man’s worth in his society – what he did to better himself and his community.

The killing of a lion, tiger, or any of the wild beasts was a spectacular feat for one man in the olden days. People told and retold the story far and wide. That would enhance the village’s respect and status: a community that produced men of that caliber! Some men traveled far and wide and brought home some new ideas that improved their people’s lives, like new farming methods that yielded more bumper harvests or new ways to build more modern houses.

There was a story of a man who, during his travels, met, fell in love, and married from a very wealthy family. The rich in-laws extended their friendship by building roads that connected his village to others.

Likewise, since we cannot see God, neither can we talk to Him; it makes sense to study or observe nature around us, the very handiwork of God, to find the answer to why the earth’s unacceptable state. How could God create the world and furnish it with all the right things for all living things to use and enjoy, sit by, and watch all the unhappiness on this earth? That sounded very odd. Or are we missing something or wrongly taught by the teachers of Religion? My fascination with and the quest for nature started early in my life. Please read on to peep into my early days.

The good old days! Can it ever be the Bad old days? Generally, no! We reminisce about the early days with nostalgia. Yes, many would like to relive them. Why? The answer is simple for why this feeling: a young person with no worries at all, only getting ready to join the adult world. It might take another six to ten years to get there. The world was good. Whenever the father was around, there was no feeling of any danger; secured from physical harm; the loving mother was there to cater to hunger and wellbeing. Children had plenty of pleasure times to run around and discover things and places, unaware of what was happening in the world around them – the unhappiness, the wars. Yes, that was the good old days.

I still remember that stage in my life. I remember the first time I ever wandered into a nearby ‘forest’ all alone, by myself, of course, for no reason. What I saw then as a forest is now a little garden, where my mother planted pepper, okra, different types of vegetables, and even yams. Like other grasses, some tiny plants, and some big trees like the palm trees, I saw these and more. Bananas, oranges, mangoes, peas, raffia, cola nut trees, etc., were ‘planted’ nearby.

Of course, it took some years for me to master the names of these ‘wonders.’ Looking back, I think what struck me most was not only the sheer number and variety of these things, but now, suddenly, I became aware of them. I remember the first time my mother took me to visit my maternal uncle and his family. On the way, I saw the same types of things I saw in the forest: again, various grasses, small and large trees, etc.

Later in life, I learned these existed everywhere, including in other ‘countries’ around the ‘world.’ My world was my village. My little mind was wondering how many of these things lived. Besides, small, and big forests existed, and animals of different sizes and behaviors inhabited the woods. Animals, plants, and trees must be uncountable!

I never imagined how the woods came to be or who put the animals in them.

And before I encountered a snake, I had already developed a fear for it. I never understood how the anxiety started. Then, one day I got a lecture from my elder brother on what to do when visiting my friends from another family to ward off any animal, particularly the feared snake.

In those days, it was trackways that connected families and even connected villages to the villages.

He told me, "Little brother, you must make noise with your feet; stamp the ground with your feet or drag them. Better still, carry a small stick and bit both sides of the pathway as you go. Any of these actions will