"That there Frank Burns is a menace!
Whenever a patient croaks on him it's either God's will or
somebody else's fault."
- Captain Duke Forrest
"And planning's for the poor
so let's pretend that we're rich"
- Jenny Lewis
"It's a joke anyway."
- Teddy KGB, paraphrasedI've been thinking about a friend of mine from college. Not so much a friend as somebody I saw every once in a while and didn't try to duck so he wouldn't see me. That's as close a friend as they come.
Anyway, the first time we met was in a freshman writing class. We read some piece of literature and the writing assignment was choosing randomness or order in the meaning of life. I wrote, of course, about the order of life, how its beauty is obvious and therefore its meaning is just as obvious, and how all events are tied to some organized and grand plan. Greg wrote that life is a series of random and spontaneous acts that often have no rationale or consequence, that life serves no ultimate meaning other than that of the present, and that the end is only a sudden stoppage of the present with no aftermath or postscript. Because I enjoy conflict, this served as the basis of our friendship.
I'll admit to having more of the questions of Saul than the answers of Paul. Be that as it may, I'm not blind enough to doubt reason for the blessings in my life or their origin; however, I just don't believe that all consequences and resulting blessings have something to do with the ultimate meaning of my existence or that everything is as sequential and results-oriented as we wish to believe.
It's easy to say that everything happens for a reason whether we are privy to that reason or not. Perhaps.
It's also easy to say that everything happens on another's time line and not our own. Perhaps not.
This much I don't question - from the vapid temporary comforts of life to the core of my personal beliefs, I'm mindful and thankful for it all.
