Chapter Ten - The Geometry of Life

Saturday morning.

Sitting in my living room staring out over “the pond” The Pond doesn’t have a name. In Michigan, there are so many ponds and lakes they have given up naming them. Some have numbers as names. Others, like the one I am looking at, have no name or number.

It was snowing outside and I was watching its slow build up onto the frozen crust of the no-name pond, reflecting over the week’s events. Another week gone and I can’t even remember what the things were that kept my mind in its normally anxious state, other than the pervasive malaise affecting nearly everyone, “Will I continue to have a job…?” You can only worry about something so much and then you get numb to it. I was getting numb.

I started to get antsy and decided to drive down to the local Starbucks and get a cup of coffee.

The “Going Out of Business Sale!” sign people were out again. This time it was the Lay-Z-Boy store going out of business. I always thought a Lay-Z-Boy store was a stupid idea to begin with. “Another genius plan from a Wall Street MBA,” I thought to myself. At least there was work in holding signs. Pretty soon we all are going to be holding signs, just staring at each other and wondering what happened to The Great Republic. I passed one, two, then saw the third man standing in the freezing cold, this one had a big goofy smile on his face. I slowed and pulled over to where he was standing, hit the down button for the passenger window and said, “Get in Jesus.”

“Ted!” sayith The Lord as he got into my truck, tossing the “Going Out of Business!” sign in the back. “It took you long enough to get here. It’s bone cold out there.”

“Where you headed, Ted?” The Lord queried.

“I was making a run to Starbucks. I just felt like going for a drive” I replied.

“Great!” said Jesus, “I really like their White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha.” The Lord has complex tastes.

We rolled into the Starbucks, Jesus and I got out of my truck and walked in to get our beverages. The line was almost to the door. People still had enough money to spring for a little bit of liquid luxury.

As we stood in line, Jesus smiled at everyone as they made their way out, and said, “Have a blessed day.” Some just smiled, others said, “You too!” The rest looked at him like he was some kind of a kook. It wasn’t much different than the reactions I get when I am out and about. When we got to the front of the line, Jesus order a Vente White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha, pointed to me and said, “He’s buying.”

“Of course,” I sighed, and ordered my Grande decaf, with room for cream. I decided to get two chocolate croissants too. I figured me and The Lord could use some pick-me-up pastry.

We got back in my truck, and I started to drive to nowhere in particular. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “What’s bugging you, Teddy Boy?” the King of Kings inquired.

“Well, my friend, I am feeling weary. I have been reading and studying on how the world really works and where we are headed for a number of years now, when I talk about it, most people think I am some kind of ‘conspiracy theorist.’ What’s wrong with being a ‘conspiracy theorist’ anyway? ‘Conspire’ means two or more people worked together to pull off a crime, or hoax. It seems pretty obvious to me that we are being robbed blind by the big banks and Wall Street investment houses. Come on people, wake the hell up!” I sighed again.

Jesus chuckled, “Ted, Ted, Ted… This is news to you? That most people are asleep and don’t want to wake up? Man, what are you thinking? Of course 99% of the people aren’t going to listen. You read The Revelation of Saint John when you were sixteen! You know how this plays out. Sheesh.”

“Yeah, I know. When I am hanging out with you, or one of my few other informed friends, it’s much better, but when I am out amongst the masses, or even sitting alone it’s tough.”

The Lord shook his head, “Look man, we’re all alone. No matter what we do, no matter how close we get to someone else, we are still apart from other people. You experience the world from inside you skull.” The Lord knocked on my head. “Your eyes peer out from ‘in there,’ giving you a feeling of separateness from The Universe.”

“Consciousness is a bitch, Jesus.”

The Son of Man let out a hearty laugh. “Well said, Theodore. Well said.”

“So, that whole ‘soul mate’ thing is a crock?” I askith He.

“Oh yeah, that one is total crock Teddily!” Jesus laughed even more.

“Well, that’s a relief.” I said. “I always thought that was pretty stupid. I mean, if you can find someone you are more or less compatible with, that is pretty good.”

“Allow me to expound upon your thesis. Do you have a piece of paper and a pen or a pencil in here?” Jesus started going through my glove compartment, the side pocket on his door. Then he went reaching under the seat. “You need to vacuum this thing out!” He exclaimed, as he came up with a golf pencil and an ATM deposit envelope from Sky Bank.

The Lord drew a triangle on the white space on the envelope. “Now, imagine this is the world you live in…”

“You mean the world is a triangle?” I askith, in a smart ass way.

“No and stop being cute, Ted. This is important stuff.” The Lord was getting all serious on me. “Okay, this is your world, and this is you.” Jesus drew a small circle inside the triangle.

“That looks like the top of the pyramid on the back of a dollar bill.” I said as I cocked my head to see the drawing. "You are not going to try to get me to become a Mason, are you?"

“Ugh” said The Lord. “That’s not the point.” Jesus began filling in the rest of the triangle with the same size circle. “All of these other circles represent other people” as he circled away. Then He held it up for me to see it better. “What do you see?”

“I see a bunch of circles inside a triangle?” was the best answer I had. “Keep in mind I am trying to drive here.”

“Exactly!” Exclaimed The Son of Man. “How close can one circle get to another?”

“Close enough to touch…” then a light went off in my head. “But they can never fully touch! They only touch each other slightly.”

“Right-O, Theo. No matter what, there is always some space between them. Between you and anyone else.” The King of Kings was excited I got it. “I should have been a teacher.”

“You kinda were and are.” realizing after I said it, that HE was being sarcastic.

The Lord’s simple explanation, using geometric shapes, made a lot of sense.

“Hey, what about when a man sticks his round tube into a woman’s round hole? Ha!” I was being half smart-ass, half intellectual. Okay, mostly smart-ass. “Doesn’t that disprove your explanation? Isn’t that the closeness we are missing?”

“Well, first, I never did that…” The Lord started.

I interrupted, “Wait, you never has sex? I know that’s what the church teaches, but I figured it was their way to make sex bad, and control people.”

“No, Ted. I never performed that act. I had enough problems without having a bunch of crazed or angry women chasing after me. Messiah groupies are the worst.” Jesus shook his head. “Regardless of my lack of human experience, the feeling is temporary. While you may feel connected on a deep level in the moment, the feeling can quickly fade, and usually does. Then it can be replaced by, jealousy, boredom, possessiveness, anger and hate.”

“Yes, Lord, you are right. It is very hard to recapture those first moments of being one with someone. The world is full of ex-soul mates who want each other dead. Does that mean sex is, in fact, bad?”

“No, it is not bad, or immoral. It just that people put too much into it. They try to attach deeper meaning to something transient. In that way, it is much like the rest of life. Everything is transient. Awareness of that is the key to understanding life, and managing your own mind. It is what it is and nothing more.”

“Isn’t that enough, Jesus? For life to be what it is, and nothing more?”

“If only everyone could understand that, my friend. If only……” The Son of Man’s voice trailed off and my best friend faded into nothingness.

Then, there I was again, a circle, alone in the triangle of The Universe.

copyright 2009 Ted Sky All rights reserved