| Oh my God!" cried several. "Call 911!" cried others. But suddenly the Lez Witch leaped to her feet once more. "Only kidding," she said, with a stupid grin on her face. The students booed her. "Oh, lighten up," said Cass. "Listen…it's like this: the question we are asking is not the proper question. The PROPER question is not `Why am I here?' but `Why?' `Why is anything here? Why the human race? Why Earth? Why myriads upon myriads of suns and planets?'" "Er…" said Ralph. "Yes!" she cried, pouncing upon him. "Exactly! `Er…' indeed!' Because you see, don't you, that when we begin to look at it from THAT perspective we are getting pretty far removed from our own petty concerns and insignificant desires." "Uh…yeah…" Ralph admitted. "So, then, tell us, Lez Witch…why DOES all of this exist?" "Because." "'BECAUSE?'" he cried in outrage and high miffyness. The Lez Witch nodded. "Exactly. There really isn't any high purpose behind everything, you know. It exists because it is the nature of the Primum Mobile to create. It just DOES that. The same way a writer writes or a composer composes or a painter paints…it is a natural part of these peoples' beings to produce literature and music and art just as it is a natural part of the Prime Mover to create all that we know. It cannot help itself…it DOES that. And so we see stars and worlds beyond measure and life everywhere we look. And that life takes many forms…from woodchuck to platypus, to mankind itself and there is no hidden REASON for any of it…it just manifests all these forms for the sheer joy of creating. Do you understand?" The students nodded. "But, then," Ralph said. "Does that mean that it doesn't matter WHAT we do?" "No, no, no, NO!" cried the Lez Witch. "Of course it MATTERS. Do not think that just because all this creation just sort of happened that that lets YOU off the hook. It is given to us as men and women to forge our lives how we wish. To impose our OWN meaning on them. Indeed, we are always imposing our OWN meaning on everything anyway. For when a person looks at the vast expanse of the Cosmos and feels his or her own ego pale by comparison what do you suppose is giving to the Cosmos it's mystique but that very same ego? It is YOU who gives meaning to things that have no meaning in and of themselves." "But that seems so ARBITRARY," Ralph complained. The Lez Witch nodded. "I know," she said gently. "But it is only so on the surface, you know. After all, we have a certain nature—a human essence…that dictates the way in which we react to any stimuli, The grandeur of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, for example. Who has not felt a deep sense of contentment with the world when the words of Schiller's `Ode to Joy' are sung in the Final Movement?" `"Joy, thou beauteous godly lightning, Daughter of Elysium, Fire drunken we are ent'ring Heavenly, thy holy home! Thy enchantments bind together, What did custom's sword divide, Beggars are a prince's brother, Where thy gentle wings abide. Be embrac'd, ye millions yonder! Take this kiss throughout the world!'" Stephanie intoned. "Like that," said Cass. "It is the magnificence of your OWN soul that gives these words their power…just as it gives the ocean its sense of mystery…and this grandeur with each and every one of YOU can give meaning to your lives and high purpose to your existence. Look, we all know that the world, OUR world, is far from perfect. There are children starving in many parts of the world…there are people suffering under hideous tyranny…disease plagues mankind as it always has…and prejudice and hate have not ceased their work. BUT! The world continues to improve slowly precisely because human beings see what is wrong and dedicate `their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor' to correcting those things. These people give meaning to their lives and, by their example, inspire others with meaning too. You know about some of them, Jesus, Gotama, Socrates, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Theresa, Father Damien…but for each one you know there are thousands of others who toil on without popular recognition and acclaim because they feel it is the right thing to do. And so, my students, in conclusion…I must admit that YOU are now the teachers and I am now the student. You tell ME why you are here." Cassandra Morrison Copyright ©2002 Cassandra Anne Morrison |
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