We Are More Dolphin Than Rat

On the cosmic scale of creation, there is no meaningful difference between the sacred and the profane. On the human scale, we are desperate to find meaning in the differences we create. We cling to preferred dogmas like drowning rats, each of us feigning confidence that our stick of wood is the one that floats best, longest, and affords us the clearest view of the sun above the waves. The fact that the sun views/ignores us all the same either doesn’t occur to us or is refuted by a belief system that regards it as an all-powerful judge who records our every stroke.

Rather than relax into the waters, where we’d learn that we’re more dolphin than rat (no offense to rats, who are marvelous creatures) we insist on fighting for meaning and clarity, on knowing the unknowable, on placing blind faith in books, gurus, and systems that best suit our chosen worldview. Some have observed that we select our dogma to match our favored aesthetics and lifestyle or grant us access to the peer group that provides the most comfort.

If we aim to pursue the Great Noble Distraction — to know the unknowable universe, a universe that cares little about our inane squabbles over what is sacred and what is profane, must we be influenced by faulty systems created by faulty humans, systems that silo and define us, that literally make much ado about nothing? If comfort is the goal, then by all means scramble upon that stick with your fellow rats. Look to one another for balance among the swells. And during stretches of calm, dance, celebrate and congratulate one another for your wisdom. But no ocean stays calm, no raft is strong enough or big enough, and no crew forever keeps the peace among themselves. It may be better to trust that we’re born into this world with gills.

Beneath the waves amid the vastness, there may be no bottom, top or sides. This may be a disappointment to those questers who seek definition and shape, and it may bring fear to those who choose to believe that one can ground into a tiny speck of dirt planet that merely floats alongside us (think about this) … but maybe we were built to dive deeper than we think?