WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS

It's normal to have an ever expanding world as you grow up. Then experience, reading, education and travel can further expand that world once you are on your own, if you let them. A big area is our understanding about God in this world. For me, the error here is when we chose from all we know and experience to form a world that is by design more comfortable and of necessity, excludes others or/and has some concept that explains their participation in your world. Most of this is determined by how colored your glasses become and how big your blinders really are.

Examples abound all along the spectrum. Of late, there has been singular concepts about God that eliminate him altogether or say there is no need of him. Some militantly want to show that God doesn't exist by saying there is no evidence for anything metaphysical, all can or will be explained by science and reason even to the extent of creating their own fundamental legalism.

Yet, believers don't share in a common theism as seen in mono and poly. Mono being what you get after being out with poly. They further confine what God is to a sectarian ideology, a dogmatic theology,  a traditional understanding or an emotional experience. To note, the confining of God should come with some caution. Some say God is confined to a sacred text, some say to a revealed revelation (which coincidently was given to them or their group), some say God is confined to those who claim to speak for God and some say God is confined to personal guidance. Using "some" this much is really fun for some reason.

There are those who really stretch the imagination by saying that God is on a totally other plane and man's experience of him on Earth is only incidental at best. Somehow this is comforting? Others say they have an intuitive knowing of God that doesn't need to be explained or defended. They avoid academics and tradition in order to sublimely rest upon their mystical laurels.

It seems that having THE ANSWER is terribly important in this matter. Yet few voice the possibility that man is not capable of understanding the answer. Apparently, it is better for him to assume such wisdom and justifiably go after, or defend against, anything that is different, militarily or otherwise. It is far too convenient to be who you are in your world, especially if you eliminate, ignore or explain away others in their worlds. 

Here's a guess, and not necessarily an informed guess. Mankind does a lot better with a God of love rather than a God of retribution. Yet, there is something alluring about damnation, boils, famine and a really big flood when it comes to early Old Testament motivation seminars. ...Now get out there and sell that manna.

It doesn't make sense to narrowly or broadly place God in this world, neither seems to cover all that needs to be considered. Nor should anyone who can materialistically account for what is attributed to God, ever believe that God was not genuinely involved. The thing with God is that he gets to be God. To understand the all of God, you might need to be another God or be really, really, really Godlike. 

My "ungodlikeness" has been apparent for quite a while now, but I do look back at my messianic period with great fondness. If I could only walk on water again. Those were the days. Since I'm not making final judgements like I used to be able, I'd like to speculate on what some claim. I remember a CEO of a bank in the infamous bailout saying that he believed they did GOD'S WORK. Well of course he did. Someone with that big of an echo, just like so many others with similar claims, has no embarrassment. When they are the all and should have it all, no other conclusion can be made.

What seems a little more believable to me is that God is involved with that CEO in whatever way God choses. I'd like to believe that God's concern and love has the same necessary and appropriate application in everyone's life. That however might not be the case. But for now, I'm going to go with it. Call me naive'. 

I just don't think God treats the current Pope or Billy Graham or any iman or spiritual teacher or rabbi different than any child in this world, dying from starvation or not, Moslem or Christian or Buddhist or Jew. I don't think I have to make comparisons to anyone  else in the mainstream; politician, business  person soldier, factory worker, teacher, farmer, doctor and etc. It comes out about the same.

Rather than for your team to win a super bowl (Would it have hurt Manning to just believe that Seattle might not care about Omaha?), it seems we would be better off praying to see more of what God is really doing and being open to all the places he is able to bless with his goodness, even if they don't meet our expectations. This is not to say that God doesn't care about our wants, needs, problems, pains and concerns. I just think he reserves the right to sort them out in the context of our real lives according to what we most likely can not understand. 

A few more speculations. Chances are that God doesn't only exist in your world. Chances are God is not exclusively on your side. Chances are that God doesn't belong to a political party or endorse a particular ideology. Chances are that God doesn't belong to any particular church, temple, synagogue or mosque. Chances are that God can be in worlds within worlds within worlds and do just fine. So why all the hostilities, violence, hate campaigns, intolerances, militant attitudes, ignorance, self aggrandizement and etc in his name?  

I think there's some pretty good reasons to be more content with the way God is in our world and in the world of others. A better world of understanding can't be all that bad. If you need to be ugly about something, do it in your own name. I'm thinking of trying it myself.


BONUS PIC

CREDITS: WeknowMemes, HuffPost, the happy world of neon lights

THE WINDS OF CHANGE

At this time of life, I hoped to be very grumpy and set in my ways. But I never settled down on anything long enough to take ownership. I've been warned all my life about being inconsistent, standing between two opinions, being lukewarm instead of hot or cold, being of two minds, and sitting on a fence. I'm sure there are more ways to express that sentiment, but I think you get the picture.

Okay, so I wasn't that big on decisiveness and commitment. I suppose that's why I've always had a fondness for the expression, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." I could stand on principle only so long then I got really, really tired. Practicality usually won out. But not always. Sometimes, I had to admit that I didn't want to be that principled in the first place.

Yet, after all of these years of frogging around, I'm rather happy to be where I am. Sure, I miss some of the things that where particularly formative and fun. Oddly, their meaningfulness is still with me. So, it's not as if I jettisoned everything each time I moved onto something else. Besides, that would have taken too much energy, spiritual and otherwise.

While mucking through the middle ground, I noticed some things. Like I didn't need to worry so much. What? Me Worry? I should have learned that lesson when I was reading MAD magazine. I can worry enough on my own, but I surely didn't need to worry about all the crap that everyone thought I should. I've met some VERY serious people. But I finally figured out that their supposed concerns didn't matter to me and quite frankly, I don't think they really mattered to them either. It seems we can feel rather important with minutiae. 

Fortunately, it was earlier on that I realized that I wasn't as wonderful as I thought I was. That wouldn't have left me with much, but I also realized that I wasn't as bad as I thought. This might have been easily predicted when I found myself in so many other similar compromises. One scoop of vanilla and one scoop of chocolate please. I truly live in an Ebony and Ivory world. Being good, or just plain, absolutely wonderful, has it's own problems. But being bad doesn't have as many problems as you might think.

You take the good, you take the bad, 

you take them both and there you have 

The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life. 

As the old Chinese proverb says, "Man who stands in middle of the road gets hit by trucks going both ways." It's interesting how being wishy washy upsets so many people. More interesting is the need to agree in order to fit in. I tried that a lot. But I was never good at playing the game. Sooner or later, my real stance or disinterest would come out. Some groups were quite clear on what it took, others weren't. Then there were groups that prided themselves on allowing for a variety of stances, even to the point that wavering was evidence of thoughtful consideration. But regardless, there was pressure to agree in order to fit in, to be one of them. 

It seems I would have fit in somewhere, but I didn't. I definitely didn't fit into school, but high school was a little better as could arrive late or miss a day entirely. I didn't fit into Bible school, the Army, the various hospitals I worked at, the various churches I attended, seminary, community organizing, political campaigns, counseling, the VA and not even detox. I would like to think I gave each of them an honest try, at least at some point. The common denominator here was me. How do I know that? My "friends" tell me all the time.

Chances are that I might not get to heaven. I'm running at about 51% right now. No surprise there. Let's say I get in by some error in calculation or statistical anomaly. I still would be weary of fitting in. There's that whole thing about spewing luke warmers out the mouth. You might be able to see where this is going. Given the choice between heaven and hell, I'd pick the earth every time, with the option of visiting heaven now and then of course. I think that's only wise. 

Adam and Eve may have been kicked out of the garden but eventually, they must have said, "You know, we never really fit in there. This is more like who we really are." The good thing is, each of us gets to understand their own life journey the way it makes the most sense. There is no way that anyone can be the judge of that. You never know the challenges in someone's life, and there's no basis to assume otherwise. Unless they admit to being the asshole you thought they were ...and maybe not even then.

I can't say that there was some purpose for all the changes. I could have done differently, but I didn't. It seemed when the winds of change started to blow, I was really to go with them. I've always felt a little bit pushed along. So, I'll not be surprised when the winds of change begin to blow again. They only mean I have further to go.


BONUS

CREDITS

http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thefactsoflifelyrics.html

THE NEW NEXT YEAR

I always get homesick at the holidays starting with Thanksgiving and of course Christmas but not so much New Year's. Only a couple things marked the new year for me. One was the Late Night service at church where they always showed a missionary film that could give you nightmares and ended at midnight with everyone forming a circle to hold hands and sing "Blest Be the Tie That Binds" and "Until We meet Again." The other was the next day when after the parades and dinner, I usually got to be outdoors until late. I loved the isolation that could be enjoyed for most of the winter. My brother said that at one the point, only the mailman and the school bus came by as no one had to go by our house to get to theirs.

Even later on, when I could do more than go to church on New Year's Eve, I never did that much. I don't think of them as wasted opportunities as I wasn't that much of a people person to begin with. You can only watch so much. And it never came close to be exciting. More the usual over the years was me staying up to watch the coverage on TV. So, I still don't have very many feelings of anticipation  or nostalgia. After moving to the prairie, I entertained the thought of dancing naked around a fire to bring in the new year. Had I done so, I'm pretty sure the holiday would have risen to be my favorite.

But New Year's is more than parties and resolutions. It's making making various Top Ten lists of what was most important and making predictions as to what will be important in the coming year. It's an elitist mainstream exercise that predictably entertains. But beyond the usual, there is something about the new year. The most profound year for me was Y2K. I believe it was National Geographic that aired the ways various cities, cultures and peoples marked the coming of the new millennium.

It is hard to imagine The Next New Year (3000) when the world crosses over into another new millennium. I know some are hoping for dystopia because that seems to be so much fun to them right now. But I don't think it will be the Hollywood or literary versions. Just like I don't think it will be utopian. Although that would be my choice. Some don't think we'll ever get to the next millennium because of the various doomsday, end of the world, everybody moved elsewhere scenarios are in play. Bible believers have had everything pretty well spelled out for some time. They just don't know when it will be set in motion.

If nothing extraordinary happens, there is no reason to believe that we can't make it to that change of date. It will be different for sure, but if the basics hold up and they are what make a difference in whatever divides, harms or threatens to eliminate us, then there is a real chance. It is only a matter of choosing Love over Hate, Goodness over Evil, Being Fed over Starving, Peace over War, Inclusion over Exclusion, Freedom over Slavery, and the many other better ways that we cling to when all else has failed. Is it possible for humankind to live better and come to the next millennium with much to celebrate? Once 2013 is in the books, we'll only have 987 years to find out.



BONUS PIC

CHRISTMAS REDUX

Dudley (Cary Grant) the angel in the classic Christmas movie The Bishop's Wife says, "We all come from our own little planets. That's why we're all different. That's what makes life interesting." Which explains a lot. Similarly, I've always thought of the Earth as the penal colony for the rest of the universe. Which explains the non-interesting part of life. It's hard to argue against a naughty and nice world.

To simplify, some take the everyone is "ultimately good" approach, at least deep down inside somewhere, while others take the everyone is "ultimately bad" regardless of any good they may do. The rest are left to some kind of sorting out approach which usually places their kind on top in whatever ways they deem important. It makes it all rather convenient.

I've met several people who say it's our differences that make us who we are. And again, they just happen to be the right kind of difference. Usually all of this is chalked up to human nature, evolutionary development or mismanaged potty training. But it is curious how we skew everything toward whatever we believe and assume that the lack of insight, intelligence, information, or illumination is involved with what others believe.

It's hard to imagine a theologian who, after years and years of study and teaching, asked, "Who is this Jesus?" Yet, he apparently did. He gets credit for uncommon honesty, even if he couldn't come up with a cosmic conclusion while others seem to, or claim to, know for sure. But what if Santa had 12 reindeer? These are the kind of questions that can keep you up at night.

                                            
I'll not go into all the struggles of faith that I've had with Santa Claus. But from when someone dressed like him, usually my dad, knocked on the door of our old country church after the Christmas program with a bag of candy for the children, to the number of presents under the family Christmas tree whose tags said, "To Chuckie from Santa" but looked a lot like my mother's writing, to the last time I watched Miracle on 34th Street, the relationship with Santa Claus (If that's his real name.) has been pretty strained. Perhaps it was all those years of trying to get off the naughty list. I'm not sure when I began to compare what Santa could do with what Jesus could. But here again, it was curious.

In a world so bent on determining what is fact and what is fiction, the categories don't seem to have changed. I think believers, agnostics, non-believers, the unaware, seekers and those who don't care one way or the other identify the majority in regard to what is beyond the way we understand ourselves. (Degrees, varieties and combinations of such are a given.) What has changed is the level of rhetoric, defensiveness, accusations, misrepresentations, and vitriol. Is it so important to be that right?

Often Christmas has been the opportunity to cease hostilities, at least for a few days or a few hours. So, even with those who thought their kind of difference was special enough to warrant the loss of life found some reluctance to push it to the limit or maybe they were just tired. I find it curious that there's such a thing as The Christmas Spirit. It's a phenomenon that has a lot of explanations. But after everything, it's still about a child being born. And that's about it, there's not much else to say. 

JOYEUX NOEL

MUSIC FOR THE JOURNEY

It took some time to put together all that music had meant for me along the way. When I was a teen, I listened to classical (Beethoven the favorite), broadway musical (West Side Story), easy listening voice (Andy Williams) and piano (Ferrante & Teicher), and folk music (Peter, Paul & Mary). Most of the music I had came through the Columbia Record Club which provided a good number of albums to listen to on my portable Garrard player. 

I did listen to what was popular on the radio but never that seriously, in that I really didn't know many of the artists very well. I still had some favorite songs and bought several albums. But it wasn't until after I had been back from Vietnam for quite awhile that I first realized that much of the popular music had been an integral part of my journey. 

My wife and I went to see Love, Janis, a play based on the book of the same name by Janis Joplin's sister who lived in Denver. Janis's psychedelic Porshe was on display in the foyer. Part of the play was a girl singing her songs quite accurately. (not sure it did her voice much good) To my surprise, I knew most of the lyrics. But further, I was quite glad to know that they fit into my life as did so many songs by other artists.

From that point, I began collecting all the songs and music that were important to me. Fortunately, iTunes was soon available, and I was able to pick and choose my way through the quest of filling in the music from my past and also what I was enjoying from what had come out more recently. I was glad to complete my history. To be truthful, I didn't particularly enjoy Janis's music when I first heard it. I didn't enjoy a lot of the music of that time. For example, I remember watching the film about Woodstock with friends in Vietnam. In a way it couldn't get much better than that. But not even half way through, we all decided to leave and do something else. 

I didn't know the true extent that this music  appreciation had affected my life until even later. But the music kept popping up in some very poignant and interesting areas. One was in a book and play titled A Piece Of My Heart, a very typical Janis tune. 

I had read the book, so was anxious to see the play. On a minimal stage with young actors in a small theater in Denver, what I knew came to life in a way that I almost shook with having no further way to deny all that happened there ...and here

I don't think my theater companion noticed, ...and I'm glad.

When I think of those times and those years, there were many individuals and groups that had meaningful contributions. But for me, some loomed particularly large and continued to provide music for the journey. The artist that I had neglected the most was Bob Dylan. From that time until now, I've come to appreciate him as the prophet of a generation. Knowing the songs he wrote that were made popular by others adds to my appreciation. 

I'll not go into detail as others are far more informed than I. Mainly, it was the music that was there, that made a difference, that lasted until this day and that formed a memory however understood. 

For me, John Denver is another large contributor for then and over time. In Colorado, it was mandatory for Denverites to play Rocky Mountain High any time they  went to the mountains, or sing it very loudly. High here could mean a couple things. One being obvious, the other was the amazing feeling you had standing on a fourteener. It was said that you weren't a true Coloradoan until you had seen a plane fly beneath your feet. There were, and still are, 53 mountains over fourteen thousand feet. A popular fete was to scale all of them. Fortunately, there were a couple you could just drive to the top and some more where you could get close.

The mountains must have been a great inspiration to John, but he wrote about many things. He was criticized for his simple and sentimental tunes, but I don't think anyone remembers those critics now nor do that many fondly remember some of the music that was supposed to be so much better.

John might quite naturally be more appreciated here. Such was seen when a stage play of his life was presented at the Denver Center Theater. Though the play, various actors sang his songs with many theatergoers singing along. 

Any number of John Denver's songs could be considered a favorite, but Leaving On A Jet Plane was the one that marked a particular day for so many. But John wasn't as well known at the time as were Peter, Paul & Mary who popularized it. Both versions are done rather well. 

There were few groups that we got to see gradually age in all the different ways we can, but Peter, Paul & Mary went from youthful folksingers to liberal activists to PBS fundraisers. Sure, I enjoyed the early work the most but appreciated what they later, as a group or an individual, contributed. Noel Paul Stookey's Wedding Song was particularly beautiful.

a

 

Music came in all shapes and sizes. I have enjoyed 

the variety which was a big change from where I started. But when it came to what was playing in the background at so many important moments, what made up the soundtrack of my life, what made me stop for a moment to smile or to shed a tear, and what lasted until now and still holds so much meaning, it was largely from a few artists. There was plenty of thankfulness and fulfillment, but I soon thought it was the same for many others whose taste in music and experience in life was much different from mine. We all needed music for the the next mile ahead. I can not imagine the journey without it. 

BONUS PIC

The Sangre de Cristo mountains were the first fourteen footers we saw in Colorado as we came in from the Southwest. We went on a picnic in the snow with my aunt and her family. 

NOT WHAT I EVER THOUGHT

I wonder at the number of people, religions, governments, ideologies, philosophies and all else that claim to know what life is about or not about. Mainly because they exclude so much, especially when it comes to God. It doesn't seem possible that everything can fit into one schema. Which leads to the question of what is the operating principle of life? And can it be known and understood?

The only solid evidence you can get your hands on is what is and what has been. Some rely on a sacred text to determine where everything fits, some on academic intellect, some on intuitive knowledge, some on emotional responses and some according to what benefits them the most. To me, all of these come up short.

I'm not surprised that some scientific evolutionists believe they can explain everything and even determine what is right. I'm beginning to wonder if they are not wanting to be worshiped. Likewise, I love how militant atheists like Christopher Hitchens (RIP) and others who not only determine there is no God for themselves but also no God for anyone else. Then there are the politically extreme liberals and conservatives who believe they are so right that anyone who believes differently is not only completely wrong but an enemy to be eliminated or at least marginalized by any means. Exclusive religious claims are the most difficult as you can make up about most anything and get a following willing to believe just because it is said to be true and jump through most any hoop that is placed before them.

Take one day to get a sense of other cultures, take time to know more than one view of history, take more than a moment to understand the adherents of other faiths, take care to be factual in criticizing the political opposition, and take the same critical view of yourself and your friends as you do for others before you determine, for some rather amazing reason, that you are right and everyone else is wrong.

I have an idea that on any given day, news of every kind falls far short of the full picture of events and experiences. Media predictably covers what it's always covered. There are the feel good stories that are thrown in but they say little about the day to day getting along and making it through that makes up the life of so many. Here are the tears and the laughter, the joy and sorrow, the weddings and funerals, the births and deaths, the fearful doubting and confident faith that is held in common. Some believe it's our differences that make us who we are and to some extent that's true, but how can you discount the overwhelming sameness?

  

At first I pursued what was right, then what was right as a sincere Christian. But now, it's what is right for me which I'm pretty sure isn't right for any one else. I'm still a Christian, just not any particular kind of Christian. No, it's not what I ever thought, but it fits. Yet, I'm not about to just see life from this place I now occupy. There is too much more going on. And I'm pretty sure no one has the capacity to put it all together, much less put a frame around it. Besides, I'm still expecting changes. I'm not at the end of the journey, although it's come close a couple times.

There's a good sense of freedom and equality in everyone getting to be and do what is right for themselves without imposing it on anyone else or believing they are ultimately right. Nor should anyone be in a position to judge someone who lives and believes differently. No one can afford to be so right, even if they are claiming some higher authority or quoting verses from an ancient text or delineating superior knowledge or interpreting a political document. Yet, it goes on and on.

There's some contentment in not having to be right about everything. Besides it appears awfully convenient more that anything else. I had to laugh at myself when I realized the utter impossibility of someone from an obscure part of Pennsylvania possessing the ultimate truth of the universe. As they say, it's a great job if you can get it.

There is a lot to enjoy and celebrate about life. But for some, that is not enough. Having or knowing the answer to everything is crucial. I'm not sure if that's a sincere inquiry or a need to feel superior but regardless, recognizing and accepting  the limitations brings even more of a sense of awe and puts the significance of humanity in it's proper place. .....Of course, there's always the possibility that I might be wrong about nobody being totally right.


HALLOWEEN BONUS PIC

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

I have an on again, off again history of watching  soap operas starting when I was young and when we only had a one channel. And when to watch anything on TV was still rather fascinating, at least to me. There have been many changes in the daytime dramas over the years and now they are about gone from the original networks. Their own particular interest and take on life captured the attention of many. The soap opera I now regularly watch is "Days of our Lives." 

It can keep my interest but it does need some suspension of reality at times and the story lines borrow from the the supernatural when the ratings dip. Are we really going to believe it when Stefano is killed the next time? Despite knowing how characters and actors come and go, I still got upset when Beau Brady recently left Hope and Ciara to go off on some urgent mission or adventure of self-discovery in Europe or other parts unknown. This seems to be a common theme for the show, Jack and John just to name a couple notorious absentees.

Also, I'm not sure if it's wise to talk about secrets in the middle of the Brady Pub, the Horton Town Square, the park, the ...you get the picture. But how else can you have someone staying off to the side who goes unnoticed as they hear some "personal" information. By the way people so quickly show up all the time, the lake can't be much farther than a 100 yards from the Square. And everything else is much closer. That part of Salem must be really overbuilt.

And how come if the DiMera mansion is supposed to be so big, almost everything happens in only two of it's rooms. Of the multiple staff, we only see Harold the butler, and most of the time he's never around to answer the door. Likewise, it's hard to believe that so much of what occurs in the hospital happens around one nurses' station, another area where secrets are dangerously shared. 

The patient room next to the desk has the convenient window with a blind in it that is mandatory for all medical shows, so I get that. But I don't get that it's used when the emergency room is full. First off, I have to think what happened in Salem to cause so many patients or is the ER just unbelievably small.

And does Rafe know that he's now back in the same room where Officer Bernardi was going to cut off his penis because he was involved with Kate, Stephano's ex-wife and business giant who never seems to be at the office but was shot by Sami, Rafe's ex-wife, with the gun that Kate had given her for an engagement gift because she was going to be marrying into the DiMera family. Of course Sami went unnoticed when Officer Bernardi entered because she was in the bathroom which was really the wrong time for him to forget his police training.

I could go on and probably should, but the point is that playing make-up, and sometimes playing make out, at least I think they're playing, isn't asking anything of me except a little appreciation for their constraints. It doesn't have to all fit together or necessarily make sense, in order to tell the story. Sure, it's all there to have fun with if you want but beware, it's easy to get caught up in one or more story lines and just have to see how they turn out. 

Admittedly, I am curious as to how the actors make it all seem possible despite the manipulated plot lines and how they overcome the ridiculous so we can take it all quite seriously if we want. Oddly, that isn't much different than what we get in many other areas of our lives except the potential for far more serious consequences. Which might explain why the only way I can watch "The Sopranos" is to see it as a sit-com.

Media, religion, government, education, emergency services, hospitals, the arts, business, sports, military and many other areas of life seem to flex according to how much "playing make-up" is going on. In addition there's the role that all the real  "making out" plays. There seems to be a lot of soap operas in the news lately and they're asking even more than the usual. Too many are willing to put the good and needed in jeopardy or  to slowly piss it all away because they are not willing to determine the real work from all the playing make-up.

I'm heartened by the abundance of human spirit that some have in conditions that I've seen but could never imagine living in. Their days are so different than mine. Somewhere along the way, I came to not feel guilty for the days that were given to me. But no day goes by that I'm not aware of other lives, especially those of children. I don't know what will come of it all, I suspect that's where faith comes in, but I would hope that I don't do anything that makes it harder for others, except maybe for my two boys who I know can handle it.

"Days of our Lives" might be relegated to a cable network someday, maybe someday soon. But if it endures just to November, it will be 48 years of sands going through the hour glass. I can get emotional watching a review of all that time. For me, it represents what it takes to keep it all going forward and the moments that mark the many passages. But as my wife would say, "It isn't REAL!" I still think there's something to it.

Obviously not everyone is going to know what the Christmas bulbs mean in the show but you don't really have to, a good guess will get you there. There are many ways to understand the days of our lives. It's going to take a lot of sorting though, so a definitive answer isn't going to be known anytime soon. But maybe it's not necessary to know it all in order to really live. I heard a poem on "The Writer's Almanac" that gave an interesting perspective.

Life is so many things wrapped in an uneven unfolding that can take us to the deepest despair and to the zenith of ecstasy in the same day. It doesn't have to be that drastic to get my attention, but I'll still never get used to such changes. Yet, regardless of how much I might want to to walk out of the show at times, my curiosity keeps me here, perhaps riveted. Even a rough ride can have a smooth ending. ...Right?