Why Are We Here?

The Simpsons runs a couch scene for all of their new episodes - my kids will run from the back room yelling 'Dad, you'll miss the couch!'

(Yes - I let them watch the Simpsons - I joke with friends that I'm going to expose them to everything so that nothing shocks them when they reach the real world - Seriously, it's a good show - the risky stuff soars clear over their heads).

Anyhow, a recent episode showed the family sitting on the couch and it took them back, through evolution to an atom where eventually there was a creator who put the finishing touches in place - the entire trip through time took just a couple of moments and it was hard not to wonder about all of this.

What the hell are we doing here? How the hell did we get here?

As George Bush once said, "The jury is still out on evolution" - which is of course, more laughable than a Simpsons episode - but there are days when we are certainly filled with wonder.

I love to watch the summer night sky fill with stars. I love to feel the fury of the wind, and watch the maddening rage of a blinding snowstorm. I wonder how birds can learn to fly in a V-formation with the leader directing the path with a brain the size of a peanut.

I enjoy the instinctual aspects of watching my dogs race through the backyard chasing the scent of a visiting animal. Catching a squirrel eating a nut is amazing.

The wonder and the beauty of it all is enough to keep you going if you have a moment to stop and dream about it. Does it come down to Adam and Eve and a snake? Do we trace it all back through the missing link and the instant we turned upright? What set it all in motion?

I'm not sure, but I know that I can list a thousand wonderful things that make me appreciate those moments when I feel like I'm about to visit heartbreak hotel. Isn't it wonderful to hear a baby laugh, or see the smiling eyes of a pretty girl, or watch the grace of a perfect golf swing (not my own), or listen to a golden voice sing a song (not my wife's).

Certainly, life can be a chore - but sometimes I wonder - what is the sound of one hand clapping?

From the very first moment of time, whenever that was, people have been searching for enlightenment - and it's always been soaring right above us, in the movement of the birds, the rush of the waterfalls, and the majesty of a mountain - perhaps we're just too busy to look.

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