what? life, that’s what we call it… we exist… the only thing we know for sure… life… or something like it… what does that mean anyway? just life, it is or it isn’t… there’s really nothing like it… death, or something like it, now that makes more sense… alive without life… a lot like death, but not death…
where? this place called earth… well that doesn’t say much, where is it in the grand scheme, in the big picture… what is the big picture, and is it really that big, relatively? And scheme… read: deceit, trick, evil plot, perhaps… poor choice of words? maybe not… but who knows really?
who? he knows… but who’s he? Or is it He with a capital H. or she? god isis allah abba jesu emmanuel odin sarayu jehovah lord zeus buddha the secret holy ghost et al… choose… your life depends on you being right… so they say… the after-life depends on it… heaven nirvana valhalla reincarnation et al… but who knows really? maybe, whoever he is…
when? now… now and then… then and now… later… never… better late than never…when i get around to it or whenever he decides? no better time that the present… but the present is gone and the future will be too… all of time will be gone, in time… can’t be now, now is then, can’t be then because now never happened, can’t be later, later will soon also be then, he gave free will, he wanted me to decide, so… whenever I get around to it, or never?
how? we are here as a result of… creation, absentee landlord or intervening supernatural force… a great cosmic explosion, red shift evolution and science… scientific fact v. theological faith … empirical logic v. mystic enlightenment… knowing v. believing... why do we naturally assume that things that seem different can’t coexist? we strive to eradicate every ism prejudice and judgment… but we pigeon-hole truth…
why? because we can…because we will… because the who has provided the what and where and left us free to question the when and how... even free to question who the who is… why then, do we judge? why do we have the conceit to think our way is the only way for everyone… because we are afraid of being wrong? racism sexism classism sexual orientation-ism insertyourfavorite-ism… slowly declining… truth-ism holds fast…mounting?
truth-ism: the one ism we can’t let go… why do we feign tolerance? Why do we tacitly judge? Why do we assume the ignorance of those outside our own fold? TRUTH… objective or subjective… fact or theory… IS LIFE... all over our world people suffer… alive without life… death or something like it… due to truth-ism perpetrated by their country church family friends or society at large. are you taking someone’s life?
Chris Noland
