The Heart of Gold fled silently through the night of space, now on conventional photon drive. Its crew of four were ill at ease knowing that they had been brought together not of their own volition or by simple coincidence, but by some curious perversion of physics--as if relationships between people were susceptible to the same laws that governed relationships between atoms and molecules.
As the ship's artificial night closed in they were each grateful to retire to separate cabins and try to rationalize their thoughts.
Relationships between people were susceptible to the same laws that governed relationships between atoms and molecules. I sort of like that notion. The very fabric of the universe governed by relationships, which is pretty accurate, I guess. Electrons in relationships with protons in relationships with neutrons in relationships with atoms in relationships with molecules in relationships with elements in relationships with compounds in relationship with . . . Well, you get the idea. Eventually, if I continued that list, I would get to human beings in relationships to human beings in relationships to the environment in relationships to the planet Earth in relationships to the galaxy in relationships to the universe in relationships to space in relationships to the mind of God. (I stole that last one from Thornton Wilder's Our Town.)
I love that idea of interconnectivity. In fact, I firmly believe in it. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. You get the idea. This morning, when I woke up, I sent texts to two of my best friends, letting them know that I was thinking of them. A short while later, I received a response back from one of them, reaffirming her love and friendship. Relationships. They are so important.
Today, my daughter is going to the prom with her boyfriend of two years. It's going to be a day of preparation. After I'm done typing this blog post, I'm going to go wash and vacuum out my car. Then I'm going to clean my house, because my daughter is bringing home some of her friends to spend the night after the prom is over. They're going to have a fire in the backyard in a fire pit I purchased yesterday. That fire pit has to be assembled today, as well. (I'm leaving that one up to my daughter's boyfriend.) For my daughter, this whole day is going to be about relationships.
In a couple of weeks, my daughter will be graduating from high school, and her relationship to her whole life is going to change. She's smart, beautiful, compassionate, and hard-working. I know she'll do well. I also know that my relationship with her will change, as well. I'm not going to be able to protect her as much from the bumps and bruises of the world. She's going to face struggles and heartbreaks, and all that I'll be able to do is offer advice, maybe a little wisdom, and a lot of love.
That is the thing that I've been learning these last few weeks. Relationships are very fluid. They change. They adapt. They change again. (For my constant readers out there, you know how much I enjoy change.) Yet, in the end, strong bonds endure. They're elemental. Subatomic even. It's pretty difficult to break apart atoms. If you try, the results are Hiroshima or Nagasaki. War. Famine. Climate change. Refugees. Poverty. Homelessness. Divorce.
Today, I'm sailing along in my Heart of Gold, watching as my relationships in the universe shift again.
Keep an eye on Facebook. Saint Marty will post pictures when he gets to his destination.
No comments:
Post a Comment