Somnambulist

You are going to find out when you die that you never really lived—and that is the worst revelation at death.

What Good News?

"I have good  news for you."

I can imagine Jesus Christ approaching the fishermen as they hauled in their catch for the day. The puzzled looks and the almost instinctive response, "What good news?"

"The Kingdom of Heaven has arrived. Come, follow Me."

These first disciples must have been amused at this stranger who was asking them to put aside their livelihood and follow Him. He perhaps had already started away. I can see the fishermen winking at each other. A madman.

They probably decided to entertain themselves for the evening after loading the fish in their baskets. One of them jokingly held up his walking stick as a scepter and encouraged the others to join in the procession.

Although they did not realize it at the time, these disciples were beginning a journey within that would free them from fear. And that was indeed good news.

That Is Madness

"I am never better than when I am mad. Then methinks I am a brave fellow; then I do wonders. But reason abuseth me, and there's the torment, there's the hell."--Thomas Kyd

Reason is the straight-jacket that constrains the Mind within an empirical reality. It dulls our awareness of Life. When we conform to its myopic vision, we lose our sense of wonder and we reduce our daily affairs to a routine.

Just What We Need

The just society is a society that affords us the greatest opportunities to find out who we are.

A Difficult Case

The ego is the psychological imprint of the helplessness of infancy.

The Defense Still Stands

The great Christian monk, Thomas Merton, suggests that in the biblical story of the fall of man, Adam represents Reason while Eve represents Passion. Eve succeeds in tempting Adam whenever reason no longer governs passion.

But I am just as interested in what happened before the fall of man. Why did man put his foot into the trap in the first place? After all, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve appeared to have it all. Yet they must have felt something was lacking—and Satan knew what it was:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

It is understandable that Adam and Eve wished to imitate their Creator. They admired Him. What better compliment than to long to be like Him?

When Adam and Eve committed the original sin, it was not so much that they listened to Satan's "glozing lies," but that they doubted God's goodness. They were, perhaps, ashamed of such a grandiose ambition: Make me a god.

I can imagine God questioning Adam after the fall, "Why did you not ask Me for what you desired?"

Adam understandably tried to blame the Serpent. What defense could he have offered? To suggest that God was not Infinite Goodness who would have raised Adam up to divine status was to utter a blasphemy with all the Angels present as witnesses. 

So Adam claimed he was tricked.

And it is a strange truth that this original defense is still professed by most of mankind. We do not realize that God has made each of us in His image. We do not truly believe we are worthy of such a gift. Throughout our lives we still offer the same defense that Adam did: We did not know—that is, we still do not believe in Your goodness.

Thus men will lie on their backs, talking about the fall of man, and never make an effort to get back up. —Henry David Thoreau in Life Without Principle

A Flourishing Practice

Far from being a morbid practice, meditating on death--your death--is a wise and effective way to embrace the present moment.

The Epicureans knew this trick. Lucretius suggested "picturing yourself at the point of death, and considering two possibilities. Either you have lived well, like a well-fed guest leaving a party. Or you have not, but then it makes no difference that you are losing your life, since you obviously did not know what to do with it anyway."¹

If you knew with conviction that this moment was your last moment you would not be bothered by anything.




^{1Quoted by Sarah Bakewell in How to Live}