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Saturday, April 16, 2005

Life, The Universe, and Everything

A few years ago, a writer for BBC, named Douglas Adams, wrote 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', which had various stints as radio show, television show, and finally, book. Soon, the movie version will come out.

Life, The Universe, and Everything just happens to be the title to a sequel of his Hitchhiker book. This article has absolutely nothing to do with that. Just wanted to clear it up in case anyone wonders.

No... This is just a late-night, too much caffeine too late in the day, kinda rambling monstrosity that strikes fear into the hearts of the timid. Okay, so it's not that scary. But, it is rambling. Kinda like the story told to Mark Twain by a man by the name of Simon Wheeler, and documented in Twain's short story, "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". (If you care to look it up, it's a funny story... or if you do not have access to it, you might email me and I can send it to you electronically).

I really do not have anything good to say. Neither do I have anything bad to say. It's been a while since I've written anything on the blogging site, and I am wide awake now with nothing to do, so why not write this?

I've been very busy at work lately, and it has been mostly positive, good stuff. Outside of work, since the auto accident described in an earlier post, Life has been good. I guess, for me, Life IS good.

But, for others, Life is not so good. In a nearby town, there's the story of a lady who has been beset by tragedy. On one Monday, her father passed away. The next Monday, her uncle passed away. On the very next Monday, her 19 year old son was in a motorcycle accident, and was killed. How will this lady ever be able to make it through another Monday? Not only her, but her other family members... I hope that they have the strength and wisdom to pray to the Creator for his guidance and sustainment in their times of trial.

The Universe is another subject altogether. It is a big subject. In fact, if you took the whole of the United States of America, and you multiplied it's land mass by 1,000,000 - it would still be but the tiniest of dots in the vastness of the Universe. So yes, I who have only left the US to cross into border towns of Mexico and Canada, cannot even really begin to understand the vastness of the Universe. It's one big, big subject.

So, other than meandering ramblings, what do I have to say about the Universe? Well, the Universe is a funny place. Even, "funny ha-ha", although that is not what I meant. I meant "funny strange". In our day to day lives, we tend to take things for granted. We get used to the routine. We expect that white will always be white and black will always be black.

Then, one white, bright day, what should fall out of the sky, but a black hole, which tends to suck all matter and "white" into it with such force that all that's left is the black as the hole gets bigger. Not that this has happened to me, mind you, but... it could. Anyway, it's beside the point. What I am getting at is that things are not always black and white.

Like, a few years ago, when I lived in Delightful Del Rio, Texas, I read the newspaper (San Antonio, 150 miles away, was the nearest city big enough to cover that part of Texas with a daily paper). The San Antonio paper had an article which discussed some drive-by shootings which had recently occurred in that city. The teenagers, smart and all, brought along a camcorder, and as they drove the 'loop' around the city, they filmed themselves shooting multiple targets, living and otherwise.... The newspaper printed an edited version of the transcript of this shooting spree. I was so disgusted with human beings, for their utter stupidity and cruelty. I can remember calling my Momma back in Arkansas, and venting to her... "I will NEVER live in a city... where people like that live" She pointed out that NEVER is an awfully big word.

Well, a few years later, I moved to Montgomery, Alabama. A few years later, I moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A few years later, I moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Now, none of these cities are huge (although, if you count square miles, OKC is pretty darn large). All three are "capital cities" of their respective states.

One of these years, I will learn to quit making statements... because, time and again, the Universe sends a black hole which sucks me into a city... I should note, that although for a short time, I lived in each of these cities, I did manage to escape to small town or country life within a year of moving to each one. Later on, however, inevitably, the black hole would reappear to push me in a new direction.

And, honestly, it was no black hole.. It was, in a sense, the Universe.. I am sure that the moves that I made .... were for a reason. There have been good things and bad things that happened along the way, which goes back to 'Life'. The creator of Life must be pretty smart to get me where I am today all in one piece.

on to Everything. Well... in my rambling, pointless way, I have discussed Life and the Universe. What else does that leave? Why Everything else. There are so many things that we poor mortals do not even begin to comprehend. As for me, personally.....

There was a point in my life, where Everything was simple. Everything made perfect sense. This is the way it is meant to be, and all that. Then, of course, I started eating real food and eventually got potty trained.

Life teaches us... The Universe proves our interpretations of what we have been taught, our assumptions, are often wrong. What we sometimes do not realize, is that Everything DOES make sense. Everything is for a reason. It may take many, many years for us to understand why something happened. We may be filled with joy or grief when Life happens... and one day the Universe may show us that we were wrong (or right) to feel this way. But Everything IS good. Or rather, there IS good in Everything.

I was feeling down once, a couple of years ago... just down, and tired... I said to a "Preacherman" friend of mine, "Tell me something good..." This guy, from Tennessee, says with his long Tennessee drawl, "Everthang's gonna be all right......"

You know what? Life can be confusing... The Universe may kick something in from out in left field... But, as long as we can remember those words... "Everthang's gonna be all right.....", then, it will.

---- This is probably the "oddest" post that i've done, but... sometimes.... that's just how it is.

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