Life is strange. That is the first thing we have to realize in order to understand. It cannot be planned, calculated, or organized. Life seems to have a direction of its own of which we, the person living it, are completely unaware. At moments we get a glimpse of clarity, but it fades, leaving still more questions than answers. We are creatures of intelligence who want answers. So we try to clarify, quantify, and define. In the end, we realize that all of our physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and other science are merely a fancy way of showing how much we think we know.

In the scheme of life, we truly know so little; so little about giving, kindness, and love. We hardly have an inkling about the soul and about the strange coincidences that seem to be pulling us toward an invisible destination. We claim to be wise, and yet war, famine, and disease run rampant. It is the age of information, and yet most of it is just meaningless nonsense. There are too many words to describe something simple. We make everything complex, and confusion stems from that complexity. If humans would just admit how little we know, now that would be a great step forward.

I have stepped into the great unknown. I have crossed the line between the living and the dead. I have come back knowing two things: how little we know about what is important and love. Love for all mankind, in all our glory and silliness. Love for the strangeness that is life and gratitude that in this messed up world, there is still love. And the truth that love does cover a multitude of sins.

Submitted by Shawn Starr