Hegel

Forty-five years ago I took philosophy classes. I guess that I was not really paying attention or that I was too young to really comprehend the material. It may be that a person's mind is simply raw material that must go through the crucible of life to be of any value to them. I am sure that the course dealt with Hegel at the time but I don't recall much.
I have been reading Hegel. There they are, the concepts that have been circulating below the surface of my consciousness for a long time.
There are no such things as fairness or luck. There is only Reason. Stand in a field and beg the sky for a favor or stand in a field and curse the sky, it makes no difference. There is no tyrannical diety ruling the universe saying "If you do this and you do that, you will be rewarded or comforted.". There is only Reason.
Why do babies die, why is there pain and suffering, why is there hunger? These are the thoughts that went through my mind as I sat in Confirmation classes. There is a reason for each of these. Because I don't see the reason does not mean that the reason doesn't exist. It means that the reason is beyond my perception. The times of my youth when I railed against the unfairness of the Diety are gone. There is no such thing as fairness. There is only reality. Deal with it!
Yes, Hegel did soften his thoughts as he grew older. This morning I stood on the porch. watching the sky as the black of the horizon slowly turned to indigo and then purple. The morning star shone an inch above the horizon as the day began its endless journey from dark to dark. I started thinking about philosophers and how their views make a similar journey. Philosophers are like banannas. In their youth they are green and firm and uncompromising in their thoughts. As they age they reach a ripeness and full value of their contents. When they get old they turn mushy and winey. Why? I don't know but there must be a reason. It is outside of my perception of reality but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Thank you Hegel, you have given me succor. Perhaps I will summon the courage to attempt Kant again. Not at night but during the day when the sunshine and singing birds can be my shield against his thoughts as they were with the thoughts of Malthus. Malthus's thoughts weren't fair, they had just been reasoned out.
Now the hardest part is beginning to glimmer in the depths of my consciousness. What is consciousness and what is the reason it exists? Is it just self awareness? We humans feel that we are the only thing on the planet that posesses it but I have seen cats get embarrased. If it is only present where there is a brain, there are a lot of other brains here other than ours.
Too much coffee too early!
Ericka, this is for you.
A farmer was driving home one day when he noticed his elderly neighbor Zeke standing in the middle of his wheat field staring at the sky. The farmer thought "Oh no, Zeke has finally
lost it. I had better do something."
The farmer went up to Zeke and said "Zeke, come with me. you are doing something silly.".
Zeke said "This isn't silly. I am trying to make a million dollars by winning a Nobel Prize.".
The farmer said "Zeke, you can't win a Nobel Prize for farming.".
Zeke said "Anyone can win a Nobel Prize if they are out standing in their field!".