We live in an era that has replaced the Godhead with a secular focus on empiricism, science and capitalism. Our concerns are largely those of a temporal nature based on self-interest. As a species of and in nature, we have distanced ourselves from our connection to it. These and other claims are offered in Jeffrey BrownÆs (2005) Black Body Radiation and the Ultraviolet Catastrophe.
While some of these claims are directly addressed and others implied, the story of AugustusÆ spiritual quest serves not only as a roadmap for reconnecting with nature and our eternal spirit but also as a stern warning of dire consequences if we continue on as we are, focused only on the temporal and self-interest. A forward entitled ôOne WitnessÆs Appeal,ö serves a role similar to ôtestimonyö in organized religion, offered by a Commander William Holtenzennerson, a believer in the message of the ôgreat Universal Augerö (Brown 1). We are warned to pay heed to the need to discipline ourselves to develop our eternal soul over our desires of the flesh.
A young boy named Augustus receives a visitation from a ôbeingö that is ôlight within light within lightö (Brown 3). This being is described as having the characteristics that we will eventually see are the characteristics we are being urged to develop as human beings, for the ôbeingö is one ôthat conveyed profound wisdom, knowledge of the eternities, supreme compassion, [and] a nimble and focused intellectö (Brown 3). Slowly through the help of Diatha, a fish, and Bebe, a young boy with enorlous ôheart,ö Augustus comes to learn of ôpantheismö or the belief that the ôdivine resides in natureö (Brown 46).
Mixed in with concepts of Zen Buddhism and other Eastern spiritual ideologies, Augustus comes to learn that wisdom and power are only applied properly when one directs oneself and oneÆs actions toward compassion. Augustus wonders why, as a common child, he
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