Philosophical Meanderings While Making Dinner

I believe life is to be learned from.

I believe it is human nature to formulate and perpetuate whichever myths support your personal outlook on the world.

I believe my myths are neither superior nor inferior to the myths I am surrounded by.

I believe some people call them myths, I believe some people call them religions.

I believe that some people call them shit.

I believe that none of us really know now, do we?

I believe that the concept of unknowing makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

I believe people that are strident and militant in their beliefs make me uncomfortable.

I believe I have been here before.

I believe I will be here again.

I believe that when we die, for a brief and shining moment, we know all the answers in the universe.

I believe we will understand the reason for the existence of the cockroach.

I believe we will understand the depth and breadth of the suffering and the goodness that exists in every person.

And then, I believe, that knowledge is taken from us.

If you have led a noble life, a good life, you will be granted access to that knowledge. It will be lurking beneath your spleen, playing peek-a-boo behind your liver and common bile duct. It will exists within you and you will, at some point, realize it. You will have the ability to quiet your mind and listen to the voices of the universe. You will realize that it is more important to be still than to shout. You will realize that the universe is very large and you are very tiny. You will realize that there are so many things to learn and never enough lifetimes to remember it all.

If your existence has been more like the wake of a hurricane and, as you look over your shoulder you see the wreckage that you have left by the machinations of your choices, you will lose all that knowledge when you come around again. You will live your next life like you lived your last life. There will be pain and turmoil and you will be screaming at the blackened cosmos, all alone.

It is the examined life that breaks the cycle. It is the realization that we are but pebbles being thrown into a pond. You ripple back to me, I ripple back to you.

I believe I have been here before. I believe I will be here again.

I am thankful for the ability to listen, learn, love, hope, and trust.

And I am thankful for all my other pebbles in the pond.

They are all so beautiful.