Meditation for April 21st
Walking Down the Wrong Side of the Road
Things happen. There is no explanation or creative intelligence behind it, but things happen. Religion and science seek to explain why these things happen, but sometimes there is a conflict between God’s reason and the laws of nature. In the theory of multi-verses, just walking down one side of the road means nothing will become of you, and the other side you didn’t walk down equaled fame and fortune.
Bad things happen because you made the wrong decision. The only problem, unlike rom coms, where the hero gets another chance to chase true love at the airport or the wedding, where the love is about to marry a jerk, is that we don’t get that second chance. An opportunity missed is missed. All the bad things in our lives can stem from one insignificant decision. We walked through the wrong door, didn’t go to a party, or didn’t do the homework on time.
Deciding to drive instead of taking the bus will destroy your chances of ever being loved. Going to Thai food instead of Mexican means you will die alone. Watching that one more episode means you will never feel fulfilled with life and will always feel like a stranger’s ghost.
Maybe you’re the type that has to really weigh the pros and cons of every decision you make. Maybe you need time to marinate on what choice to make. Well, this means being even more diligent about your conclusion. It isn’t about the possibilities; it is also about the unknowable. You could be ending your chance at a lifetime just by deciding to do laundry a day early. And even if you make the best decision possible, this decision might lead you down a road into a hellish landscape of pain and suffering.
Maybe you’re the type to be spontaneous with your decision-making. Maybe you don’t put a lot of thought into what you’re choosing. Well, you may need to slow down, cowboy. You might be unhappy and angry because you keep making the wrong decisions. But sometimes the worst decision possible is the key to a long, fulfilling, happy life.
It is the right decision at the time, sure, but maybe doing the right thing is keeping you and joy from ever meeting. Maybe it is time to think about yourself, not others, this time. You might have missed a great opportunity to realize your dream by being nice and ethical. Who knows?
It isn’t just you that your choices affect; other people are being hurt and missing out on their happiness because of your life decisions. You decide to bring an umbrella instead of wearing a rain jacket, which means your sibling doesn’t get the promotion they were counting on. It is your fault. This is why you feel bad when people are hurt or don’t get what they want: subconsciously, you feel guilty.
You even change strangers’ life plans by the way you go about it. Nothing is just ok. Something you do negatively affects someone else in the world. Just buying new clothes keeps people in West Africa in poverty.
Prayer
Tyche,
The alarm is going off,
It is 5 am.
I didn’t think about what I would wear today.
It’ll be warm,
So maybe I will wear shorts.
But what if I need to look more professional?
What if hot coffee splashes on my leg and burns me?
What if I walk across a park and a rattlesnake strikes me?
What if the temperature isn’t that hot and I get cold?
What if my hair and fat legs get made fun of?
If I wear shorts, do I have to wear a short-sleeved shirt?
Button-up, pull-over, or t-shirt?
I don’t want to wear a t-shirt because of my boil,
And t-shirts aren’t classy.
That leaves a plaid button-up, a solid-color button-up, or a pull-over Oxford.
The very future of my life depends on this decision!
Ok, there.
This outfit will do.
OH, GOD! I ONLY HAVE WHITE SOCKS!
I guess I’ll have to die.
Amen.
Craft
How to play the card game Assumption:
You’ll need a tarot deck, without the major arcana.
You’ll need exactly 13 players.
DON’T PLAY OVER WATER (on a boat or on a houseboat)
DON’T TALK ABOUT CRISIS DURING THE GAME
All players ante.
The first two cards are dealt face down.
The third card is dealt face up.
Players go through a normal round of poker betting.
The fourth card is dealt face up.
Players go through a normal round of poker betting.
Now comes the “mating” of the cards. Starting with the player on the left of the dealer, each player may either bid on another player’s cards. They only see the two face-up cards, so the initial two cards are a surprise. A player may sell the cards for the offering price, see if they can get more, or hold out to buy someone else’s hand. This goes on until there are as many hands mated.
Now the hands are “conceived,” and each player has 8 cards to create a poker hand.
Now, the players with concealed hands discard their three most undesirable cards.
Now a third round of betting ensues.
The best five-card poker hand wins.
The owner of the “conceived” hand wins 90% of the pot, and the player who sold the cards, “the Parent”, gets 10%.
As a final challenge, “the Parent” can match the whole winning pot, and if the “conceived” accepts the whole deck, it is reshuffled and cut in half.
The two play a quick game of War and pick cards from their decks.
The highest card wins.
The loser gets the winner’s soul.
Goal
Just remember that whatever you do, right or wrong, you are going to ruin someone’s life.