The Dark Night Of The Soul

Commentary by: Bill the Butcher

As we celebrate Christmas it causes one to reflect on the first advent of Christ and as we wait for Act II of the cosmic drama ask, “Why do bad things still happen to good people?” That’s what’s known as one of them ageless questions. Like if Walmart wants us to use self-checkout why don’t we get a discount for doing so? You’ve read about, or perhaps even know someone who seems to have had a charmed life. Shirley Temple, The Dalai Lama, your Aunt Louise. All seem to have connected all the dots all their lives and then something comes along that is so out of sync, so mind altering that it invokes that other ageless question,”Why did God let this happen?”

Well, He didn’t. You did.

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

In street talk God said, “I made it, you run it!” What becomes of your life is the result of your actions or the result of your reaction to actions. Life is like a bank. From birth you are making deposits and withdrawals. And as you “do business” you form rules to live by. Or die by. Verily verily I say unto thee, “A self-help book will foul you up!”

Oh, I’ve done it, everybody has. Find some best seller on The New York Times Best Seller List and rush down to Barnes and Noble to buy it. Then you hang on every word some Jack a Lope penned to make a check. And your wife leaves the “New You!”

And Bible Thumpers. Don’t get me started. They read their translation of a translation and split them hairs according to the opinions of some preacher who “clarifies” what the words “really” mean. “And the Lord said, ‘Thou shalt not kill!” But ya hast to be sure to wear a hoodie and burn a cross first if you happen to. Can I have an “Amen?” Joseph Smith did one better. He just went up on a hill and made up his own Bible. Hell! It worked for Mohammed.

Now I’m not giving Bible lessons here. If you can’t read, and need some preacher or Pope to lead you by the hand and tell you it’s wrong to date your sister then you need to ignore this article.

But if you want a reasonable view of the paradox of life please continue. When I said “your reaction to actions” I know some of you flinched. “But Wilbur, what about them poor people in Gaza that didn’t start that war?” Let’s admit that some things are out of our control. Now let’s go one step further and admit that most things are out of our control. Now let’s accept that anything beyond arm’s reach is out of our control. Your REACTION to actions. YOU control YOU. Even if you must make the choice between hanging and lethal injection it’s still YOUR choice. Your fate has already been decided by forces that are out of your control, especially if you’re in Texas. One from column “A” or one from column “B!”

Go right back to the title of this article. BAD things happen to GOOD people. In retrospect, GOOD things happen to BAD people. It’s how you REACT! When you are born you have about 2.5 billion heartbeats in the bank. By the time the doctor slaps your ass you have 2.5 billion beats minus 10 divided by whatever floats your boat. Or sinks it. Whichever the case may be. Hey. Follow the science. The Social Security Administration sure does.

Anyway, most of the time when someone commits suicide their reason goes completely over the head of observers. “We didn’t know he didn’t like broccoli.” What is a catastrophe for one is a mild irritation for another. Once there were two Rabbinical Students assigned to do a paper on suffering. So they teamed up and went to the oldest Rabbi on campus. He was blind, old, and confined to a wheelchair. And they asked, “What is the meaning of suffering?” After much consideration the wise man said, “I can’t tell you. I’ve never suffered!”

The Kingdom of God is within you. You have to learn to listen to that quiet, still voice. It won’t shout. Sometimes it doesn’t even use words. It uses emotion or nonverbal logic. It will draw from your own experience and you seem to form your own opinion. But do you? Or do you make a withdrawal from that life bank you’ve been depositing to your whole life.

Long ago, in a land far far away I met this girl. She was working at a help desk in New York. I had one of the earliest home computers. A Tandy 10. About the size of an office desk and I was having to program it myself. I called the company and got this girl. Many calls later we became familiar with each other and to make a long story short, I left my wife, two kids and a dog, not to mention I owned a trailer park, (Hey, it’s Texas OK?) and took off to New York to start a new life. What could possibly go wrong? Well, we had a difference in perception. I thought I was in love and she thought everything was bigger in Texas. We both made withdrawals from our life bank.

We all face life’s challenges. That’s how you learn. By making mistakes. We all will experience a Dark Night of the Soul. And the night is always darker before the dawn but the dawn will come. For you and everyone else. Some enjoy the sunrise, some are too busy checking the weather report. The rain falls on everyone.

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