We came upon this island, the inhabitants of which had perhaps gone decades without any contact with the outside world.

The fear of the unknowns plays upon the mind, but also weighs heavily upon what could be considered a threat to the body. We're talking basic instincts here ...self-preservation.

But the vast array of emotions that us humans possess are often kin to one another. That's why we can laugh in the face of danger, while at the same time become incontinent (and I'm not talking about the former, but the bladder).

This appeared to be one of those moments, wherein there could arguably exist every reason to be frightened to death ...or perhaps, of death itself, yet I laughed to myself, imagining the similarities between their practices and those popularized at Bob Jones University.

Now, don't let me get you confused here. Bob Jones University is a Christian school, and following a quick assessment of the island, there appeared to be no Christians around. I wondered if there ever had been. It's not just an 'all-or-nothing' scenario ...as people to various degrees accept most things that are not totally against their nature, or upbringing. After all, one is not born with faith.

A baby likely cries because in most cases, contentment has yet to be taught. And I believe it should be first taught with an overabundance.

Don't try this with birds ...they may die the following winter. But don't raise your children like bird-brains, nor give them an option to fly south for the winter. (And if you live in the South, that would mean 'south' of there ...to the temptation of the islands.)

The rest of our lives we may benefit more from 'learning the hard way', in some cases, taught with certainty. But since a baby has no foundation of certainty, I believe it's best to begin with meeting those basic needs that a baby needs to have met in order to establish 'trust' ...in short, a faith that someone will meet those needs. Later there is ample time to teach them that their desires will not always be quickly met on this earth ...and they had better transfer their faith towards a future hope, where the true desires of one's heart will be clear.

And I'm not talking about marriage, unless you look to the further definition of it ...but for the time being, after being weaned, it appears our needs transcend, to the bigger need ...the need to grow up. Yes, there is double-meaning here ...as we are weaned of many things through various stages of our lives.

There's a TV show called, "The Biggest Loser'. It really depends on what you lose. The Bible states, "What does it profit you if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul?"

But back to the TV show, the defined winner is the biggest loser. And truly a person who has the resolve to overcome something difficult, to improve upon themselves, is a person of winning character.

So let's not look at this the wrong way. When I ask you to think of the heaviest person you've ever seen, let's not look down upon that person, imagine looking up ...up on your back!!

Witnessing this bizarre scene on the island, defines itself within the confines of 'shock', only to those who don't understand. Yet, isolated on this island, there are none who don't understand. They are quite familiar with their ways ...so much so, that they can even laugh about it.

Feleti jokes, "Sort of like Bible college you told me about ...where men and women are expected to sit arm's length apart. Here, they sit islands apart."

On the men's island, each young man is paired up with an older man, sort of like an apprentice. If either within the pairing dies, then the other one has to take the dead man to the woman's island for burial.

The women begin preparing the grave as soon as they see the boat coming. But they look at it as new life, because the man that rows the dead body ashore is to participate in a marriage ceremony ...and is to stay on the island until a baby is born.

You may ask, with all those women, how is it decided upon who will be his wife? That is a very good question, yet one that no woman has to ask. They all know very well the answer to that.

There is a contest held immediately after the burial is complete. And that burial is the quickest burial known to man ...and the sole man presiding over the burial is just as eager as the women are for the next ceremony to get underway.

As the contest gets underway, it is evident that few do underweigh. As it is explained, you will understand why most of the women overweigh. If you are wondering under where it will be explained ...it is under here (next post).

Each woman has a chair she has made. The chair is made out of any material that can be found on the island. Each woman takes her turn putting the chair on her back. As she hunches over, the man gets up into the chair, and she must walk with only the means of her own two legs. Each woman takes her turn, and the woman who carries the man the furthest ...wins the contest.

As would be expected, the larger the woman, the better the chance she'd feel she had of winning. So you can imagine,the favorite pastime, aside from when the man visits the island, is eating ...and the result being, an island with many very large women.

After the baby is born, all the older boys on the island, under the age of twelve, have a contest to see who can carry a pole across his shoulders with the most buckets of water. The winner becomes the apprentice to the older man, and returns to the men's island with him.

Part of this story is taken from "The Evolution of Confusion" Part II. Yes, I am at liberty to use excerpts because I am the author of this yet unpublished work.

The story doesn't end here ...but this blog does.  If you feel cheated, and wanted to read more, then you are quite unique ...most people can only endure 'twitter'-length.  But if you do want to read more, the 'profile' will provide some additional choices.  Just scroll down to the 'About Me' section, and just below that in faint gray print you should be able to read 'View my complete profile', and click there.