Halloween

October 31, 2019

Halloween. Fear and terror! We watch a scary movie, and the hair rises on the back of the neck; the real fear is a constant companion. Nihilism, being eaten by a ravenous universe whose only purpose, if there is one, is to eliminate us, to erase our existence. I am sitting in the basement this evening watching football when that feeling creeps up on me again. That feeling of realization that I am the culmination of thousands of years of survival. Omit one link in that chain of generations and I am not here. One microbe, one dropped infant, one freezing night, one tribal attack, one fall from horseback, one house fire, one flood, one tornado, one global war and the history of my lineage is changed, and I never existed! Not to mention that there are billions of stars out there each with its planets and life. Yes, we have more to fear than clowns and chain saws. There are real monsters, and they are in the hearts and minds of each of us and perhaps in the hearts and minds of those others out there.