INVITING EINSTEIN TO THE LOCAL SALOON

It's been said that fear is forward, because no one is afraid of yesterday....

I'm afraid most psychiatrists would disagree, for it's our yesterdays that so intrigue them. An intrigue that can also be found in this from Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful things we have experienced during our lives are the mysteries, for mystery is the source of art, science and friendship."

Well said, Professor, and yet the operative word "mystery" calls for some clarification and definition. Or, wait, does it...? There are those -- from shamans to poets -- who might argue that mysteries by their very nature defy clarification and definition. They simply and magnificently are!

Here's the scene.

Corner saloon...three guys at the bar arguing about their baseball teams...tempers flair...finally guy one belts guy two who in turn belts guy one...after a little while, they all laugh over their temper tantrum. Nearby watching all this is the local priest, a college professor, and the resident drinker.

The priest might reflect on humanity's flawed human nature which permits such irrational outbursts. The professor might reflect on the sociological implications of three out-of-work bread-winners getting testy at even the slightest irritant. The resident alcoholic might simply shrug, "Hey, forget it; they will!"

The scene makes one think about Socrates's celebrated: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Was he right? Sounds right to the priest and professor. But then perhaps the mystery of three sensitive egos bumping into each other over too many beers is best left right there at the bar. It happens, it happened here, it's over, end of thinking about it. Tomorrow, this little today will become nothing more than a forgotten yesterday.

So there's the choice. To ponder or simply to push on? Be it a bar fight, a first love, or a new career, should life and its many mysteries be cheerfully bitten into like a piece of ripe fruit? Or reflectively re-captured into something like a still-life painting for all to examine?

While the priest and professor debate the question, the resident drinker is ordering another round. One wonders who will wake up in the morning the most content...