A New Hope

"A Lazarus taxon (plural taxa) is a taxon that disappears from one or more periods of the fossil record, only to appear again later. The term refers to the New Testament story of Lazarus, in which Jesus miraculously raises Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus taxa are observational artifacts that appear to occur either because of (local) extinction, later resupplied, or as a sampling artifact. If the extinction is conclusively found to be total (global or worldwide) and the supplanting species is not a lookalike (an Elvis species), the observational artifact is overcome."
For the rest, and to have a look at such creatures as the Tammar Wallaby, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, & others that share this trait I'm now claiming for myself, check the first link.

The character of Lazarus has been a source of fascination since the first time I heard the bible story. I was still very much a child in the Catholic school system (in Hell's Kitchen no less!); it would be years before my contempt, for religion, took root. Lazarus' story resides in my unconscious for reasons that I'll surely re-visit here. The first impressions that stuck with me were: the Christ character was fully a human, and not a deity. He was a man and bereft over the loss of his good friend before bringing him back to life. That last part was the other cool thing to my young mind, the supernatural twist of raising the dead pal.
After a healthy dose of experience with deaths and losses, I have come to what I can only describe as peaceful acceptance of this condition that is as natural, and necessary as breath. The only thing that rankles any philosophical search for meaning, in the aftermath of loss, is grief; especially the grief of people near and dear.

The bigger reason for the title, and why it was a no-brainer when I chanced upon it during some aimless meandering through these internets, is that I had been as dead as Lazarus, and locked in a virtual grave from which I have recently emerged. A tragic end to a marriage was the thing that put me down for the long stretch. The friends and family that helped me rejoin the living are no less magical than the force described in that old Bible tale; some are bound to make appearances in future posts.

There is much to discuss, and we are living through a remarkable period of time that can yield great advancement for our human race. The path will not be easy, in fact it looks more and more as if harder times are on the way, and the enemies to enlightened thought are hanging on, but without endings how could we ever begin anew.

The time of the ignoble creeps is going to end.
The black cloud, and signs of the apocalypse that have enshrouded the world since November 2000 (e.g. - Bush, 9/11, the Red Sox winning, Patriots cheating), have begun to show cracks, as a collective wish for truth and justice is starting to gain momentum. The rats have begun to jump ship, the liars are being exposed, and the Karmic wheel keeps trying to set things right again (e.g. - Giants win, Alberto Gonzales, Ken Lay, Spitzer's fall) .
Hope should never be underestimated or dismissed. If enough minds focus upon the wish for truth, reason and justice, then perhaps greed, stupidity and evil can finally be stamped out.
We may even get around to evolving.