Field trip

The lot of us roamed the state park, back and forth, like zombies searching aimlessly. We’d keep going until Liz – the activities coordinator – blew the whistle, and then we’d scramble back to the bus.

Lenny and Chip, the OCD sufferers, zigzagged the grounds in convoluted patterns, understood by them alone. Reminded me of the football patterns I ran with my mates behind Foley field, about 40 years earlier. The difference being that we never crossed into each other’s lanes in those days. But, Lenny and Chip crashed into each other at one point, almost coming to fists over it, before arriving at a compromise with my assistance.

“Avoidance is the key,” Lenny told me after calming down.

“Yep, stay in your own lanes, and all will be good,” I said. And I gave him a thumbs up. He smiled, gave me a pat on the back and continued his zigzag patterns. I felt validated from the pat.

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Temptation

Social media question (paraphrased):

Original sin does not make sense. Eating the fruit would have enlightened Adam and Eve as to what was good and bad. How could they have known it was bad to disobey God, before taking a bite of the fruit?

My metaphorical response:

Adam and Eve are like children, who don’t yet comprehend the consequences of not listening to one’s father. Alternatively, we could view them as naive, inexperienced adults, indifferent to an authority’s warning about a risk or potential danger. For example, without the physical experience of being burned, the warning against playing with matches often goes in one ear and out the other.

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Dredging the truth

Discomfort has a way of dredging up the truth.

What really happened? Why did you run off with that guy? Do you still love me?

Ask such things while dodging bullets, or huddled together under newspapers to keep warm.

The inexplicable

“The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.” ― C.G. Jung

I believe that Jung was on to something here, but I would replace “outgrown” with “acknowledged.” Most every situation in life – good and bad – lingers as an emotional footprint, continuing to impact us in both subtle and dramatic ways. Change does not erase nor reconstruct the past, but rather builds around it, like tree roots stretching over the remains of an old stone wall.

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Invisible forces

The force of gravity “appears” to exist. However, like the wind, we infer that gravity exists by observing visible things and how they interact. We cannot directly observe gravity, just as we cannot see the wind.

Human nature is more of the same. We infer what people are thinking and feeling through their words, behavior, and physical manifestations. However, our naked motivations are invisible to both ourselves and others, limiting us to best guesses as to what is really happening.