It is of course well known that careless talk costs lives, but the full scale of the problem is not always appreciated.
For instance, at the very moment that Arthur said, "I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my life-style," a freak wormhole opened up in the fabric of the space-time continuum and carried his words far far back in time across almost infinite reaches of space to a distant Galaxy where strange and warlike beings were poised on the brink of frightful interstellar battle.
The two opposing leaders were meeting for the last time.
A dreadful silence fell across the conference table as the commander of the Vl'hurgs, resplendent in his black jeweled battle shorts, gazed levelly at the G'Gugvuntt leader squatting opposite him in a cloud of green sweet-smelling steam, and, with a million sleek and horribly beweaponed star cruisers poised to unleash electric death at his single word of command, challenged the vile creature to take back what it had said about his mother.
The creature stirred in his sickly broiling vapor, and at that very moment the words I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my life-style drifted across the conference table.
Unfortunately, in the Vl'Hurg tongue this was the most dreadful insult imaginable, and there was nothing for it but to wage terrible war for centuries.
Eventually, of course, after their Galaxy had been decimated over a few thousand years, it was realized that the whole thing had been a ghastly mistake, and so the two opposing battle fleets settled their few remaining differences in order to launch a joint attack on our own Galaxy--now positively identified as the source of the offending remark.
For thousands more years, the mighty ships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming on to the first planet they came across--which happened to be the Earth--where due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog.
Those who study the complex interplay of cause and effect in the history of the Universe say that this sort of thing is going on all the time, but that we are powerless to prevent it.
"It's just life," they say.
Cause and effect. One action sets into motion a chain of reactions. That's Newton's third law of thermodynamics: "for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction." Obviously, the implication of Newton's rule reaches far beyond simple physical forces. Think about it. Words can set things into motion, as demonstrated in the passage above. Or how about this: one simple search on the Internet leads to another search on the Internet leads to another, and, months or years later, you find yourself in incredible debt or alienated from people you love and care about. Actions and reactions.
That's the way things work. I, myself, have always followed the rule of sending loving actions out into the universe. Love begets love. If you send anger out, you're going to end up with a black eye, eventually. That's why, in situations where I have a choice between love or anger, joy or despair, generosity or greed, I will always try to embrace the light, even if it seems crazy at the time.
I have great, close friends and family who love me probably more than I realize. Even when I am slogging through a dark swamp, they are always there for me, like the stars, guiding me to a better place. Reminding me what love really is. Yes, I stumble and fall sometimes along the way. I get muddy, wet. I battle R.O.U.S.'s. (For those non-Princess Bride fans out there--those are "Rodents Of Unusual Size.") I'm not perfect. I feel sorry for myself sometimes. Wallow in misery. Everybody does it.
However, following Newton's third law, misery will only bring more misery. Self-pity attracts depression and despair. So, I have been trying to do something positive every day, whether it's a blog post about love or dropping a five dollar bill into a card for a coworker who is facing some challenge. The universe has a way of returning favors like this. If you're religious, you call this "grace." If you're Christian, you call it the Holy Spirit. The breath of God.
This evening, I have been the recipient of grace. Work that will help me to pay some bills. It's hard work, but I don't mind hard work. I'm used to it. So, I give thanks for this opportunity, this extra job. It's a blessing, and it will hopefully bring more blessings into my life.
Saint Marty is full of gratitude tonight.
Some people who remind Saint Marty to be happy:
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