Wisdom, like love, is where you find it. It may be in the pages of a comic book, in the I Ching, or in the mumbled observations of a child on the edge of Dreamland. You simply know it when you find it, and no one – and I mean no one – has any legitimate reason for telling you otherwise. So, when I quote the venerable Master Po (a blind, 19th century Shaolin monk), do the circumstances of his existence or nonexistence obviate the truth of the wisdom attributed to him? I think not. After all, if I approach my neighborhood particle physicist and ask, “Am I really here?” he may just inform me that at the moment, I am more likely to be here than somewhere else. Why? Because as all the particles that make up the mortal coil are constantly in motion, I’m never really in one spot. I am therefore, strictly speaking, not anywhere at all. Particle physicists are a breed apart, and no mistake. But back to Master Po. A young acolyte remarked that for someone like the blind Master Po, to live in perpetual darkness must be the most terrible of fates. To which Master Po replied, “Fear is the only darkness.” Now, that’s a terrific line no matter how you slice it and carries a bit more weight than the too bloody popular for my tastes and entirely nonsensical, “It is what it is,” which is almost as profound as saying, “That dog is a dog.” I recently – as in just over a week ago – quoted Master Po. I was about to undergo my second surgical procedure within a seven-month period. By contemporary standards, both surgeries are considered commonplace, little more involved – especially when done robotically – than having one’s tonsils removed. But at my age, being firmly entrenched in the ranks of Tiresome Old-Timers, there’s always a chance for complications to arise. The evening before the surgery, I was asked if I had any worries or concerns, at which time I quoted the venerable Po. It wasn’t mere bravado on my part, but something I truly believe. What, if anything, do I have to fear at this point? I never thought about living this long anyway, so in that sense I’m ahead of the game. I’ve survived the Cold War, the threat of being drafted and shipped off to Vietnam, the break-up of The Beatles, a literal handful of divorces, the Covid pandemic, and having to say ‘goodbye” too many times. What legitimate fear is left in this world? Nuclear winter? Being set upon by savage beasts? That I might step outside on an otherwise gloriously, sunshiney day and a turbojet engine from some cut-rate, cost-cutting airline like Ryan Air will drop out of the sky and render me into a puddle of protoplasm in tennis shoes? At least one of those is certainly within the realm of possibility. I’ve also been (financially) broke a time or two, lived off the Dollar Menu at both McDonald’s and Taco Bell, been cheated on, stolen from, and lied to. And, to quote Peter Gent, I’ve done right things for the wrong reasons and wrong things for the right reasons. But I’m still ambulatory, have all of my hair, nearly all of my teeth, and to one degree or another I’ve achieved all the goals I set for myself when I was sixteen, so how bad could things have been? According to my scorecard, not bad at all. But I do have one fear, and it’s one I’ve carried ever since I first became aware of it in the dim and misted past: willful ignorance on the part of others. That, in and of itself, is a darkness that merits fear because there is no cure, no countermeasure for it. Whether it’s in conspiracy theories, “alternative facts,” or flat-out lies for the sake of furthering a self-serving narrative, willful ignorance is as poisonous as the bite of a gila monster. And when a gila monster bites, it doesn’t let go until all its venom has been exhausted. But other than that …
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https://youtu.be/z6eElAsOiCo?si=V4EwQ4qT5Jf6-p6N
You may quote Master Po
I'm more inclined toward Ronnie Lane, but YMMV
I'm glad your cut-rate plane did not drop outta the sky, and you returned from the surgery table.
Out - straight
Have a swift return to ruddy health, more music awaits...