Unknown – But Unafraid?

Earth Day/Mother Earth by Alice Popkorn 

 The stories we tell – in books, television and movies – specifically those NOT about our known circumstances – they fall into several categories; which, if you break them down, are rather interesting to note. Why? Because they speak to how much we’re clueless about, and what we’re probably afraid of!

1.       The unknown of what’s above – in space. Alien invasions, catastrophic impacts from celestial bodies, or any number of a myriad of things in the universe that could shift us out of the perfect little balance we have on planet Earth.

2.       The unknown of what’s below – in the deep. Mermaids/Sirens, ginormous sea beasts or other creatures of mythology. Sharks, whales, octopus (all usually the giant variety!) Maybe include here that which is even below the ocean, the mantle and fiery core (and however we can imagine that going sideways)!

3.       The unknown of what’s on – the other side. The spiritual realm, the dark realm; ghosts, spirits, demons, angels, gods and anti-gods. Who’s friendly? Who’s malevolent? Who seeks our utter destruction? Who seeks to bestow us grace? Probably THE scariest of them all, as there’s much less to go on as far as what can be learned (as opposed to the above) – until we’ve crossed that threshold.

4.       The unknown of what’s within. Couldn’t leave this one out, considering the present conditions we’re dealing with in real life. That which can get into us internally (from externally), that was probably inside something else to start with! Viral/bacterial outbreaks, epidemics, pandemics. The things we can’t even see that can/could spell our demise.

There’s probably more, but that’s enough to make the point. And what is the point? Simply that, it’s intriguing where the storytelling soul of man tends to go in order to give us a good tale and something to think about. Because, believe me, these writers are pondering long and hard as they write their books and their scripts. They’re giving us all material to not only entertain, but to speak to that which is at the very core of all mankind. The want to know more of – what we don’t!

Personally, I happen to believe that this speaks to the greatest potential of human beings there is: the (God-given) ability to be far greater than the little worker bees and ants which most of us basically are. To reach, above, below, within, and without – because at some time, somewhere, before everything we’ve created for and to restrict ourselves – the Divine had in mind for us to be far, far, far, far, far – more.   

RESURRECTION = RECOVERY

Alrighty then, enough of my shameless promos - it's 'Resurrection Sunday' as we like to say. Staying true to form, time to drop some 'fresh Easter eggs' on ya'll (try to make these comments timely don'tcha know!)

Okay, so we're in the middle of a crisis (not of faith, but straight up physically), with the solutions still looking shaky at best.

Now, upon the death and resurrection of Jesus, a resolution to our 'transgressionary crisis' with God was had. Jesus died (boo) but was raised (yay) to deal with the situation. And since this occurrence, we hear regularly of his demise and revival as part of our culture and faith.

May the good news of Easter, the raising of our Lord, be something we can parallel to our current situation. We hear about the numbers testing positive, and climbing cases of deaths. But, does our news and other media outlets focus much on the numbers of RECOVERY? No, because its page 2 stuff, not as 'sensational'. And its not their fault really, it's human nature to focus on the turmoil and conflict till we reach the end (like a book, yo).

RESURRECTION = RECOVERY - there's a metaphor for you! Sure, we gotta talk about the death (and the deaths); it's relevant. But, like today, when we're focused on that 'return to life' by our guy, let's simultaneously get our eye on those numbers of recovered Corona sufferers!

Just like the wages of sin are not necessarily death (thanks to the Man!), Corona isn't absolutely the mark of the death angel on you either! But, ah, humans! We get fixated and side-tracked, don't we? "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves," Arnold, The Terminator once said.

Time to quote 'ol Georgy Bush Sr. 'Stay the course, a thousand points of light.'! (Of course I only remember that from Dana Carvey's impression of him on SNL)!

Peace!