Yesterday I asked if Bill Shakespeare was right. Is life “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?” How do you know?
Not long ago, I came to a stop at a red light at 31st Street and Southwest Trafficway in Kansas City, MO, just three blocks from my house. Going east like I was, the intersection is at the crest of a half-mile-long hill called Signal Hill. (I already know what many are thinking. Yes, Kansas City has hills. The city itself was built on what was originally a 100 ft. bluff overlooking the Missouri River. You see, several million years ago, there were certain geological events… but I digress.)
While waiting for the light and tapping my fingers to some innocuous CD, I immediately sensed something was wrong. My car was slowly rolling backward. My foot went down harder on the brake but there was no response. My foot was now practically pushing the brake pedal through the floorboard. I began to have visions of steering an ever-accelerating car backward down a hill into Kansas. (The state line is at the bottom of the hill.) My eyes shifted to my right as I reached to grab the emergency brake. As my eye caught the scene out the side window, I became really confused.
The signpost out the right side of my car was either perfectly still or sliding down the hill with me. I was inclined to reject that second possibility as it has been my experience that signposts are usually quite stationary. My head whipped back to the left when suddenly, all became clear. I wasn’t moving at all! The SUV beside me was inching slowly forward into the intersection. My eyes deceived me. They told me the SUV was standing still, and I was rolling backward. Good thing the double-take exposed the illusion. I would have looked silly bailing out of a stationary car at one of Kansas City’s busiest intersections.
But back to Bill’s question. Are we living the purposeless driven life, and brother Rick Warren is just an illusion? There is an old philosophical question that asks, “If I have a dream about being a butterfly, how do I know that at this moment I am not a butterfly dreaming I am a man?” Or maybe Warren is really a butterfly dreaming he is a pastor? If so, how did he type the book with little butterfly feet? (Now my head hurts.) All I know is I don’t want to roll backward down a hill to certain death in Kansas. Nor do I want to live a life that is an illusion.
Speaking of illusions, try clicking on this thing below:
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nashdude said...
I love the illusion!!! And rolling backwards to death in Kansas sounds truly horrible(shudder!!!!).
June 14, 2005 12:54 PM
Posted by: Michael Kruse | Aug 01, 2005 at 07:41 AM
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Michael W. Kruse said...
Thanks Nashdude! Thanks for dropping by. I think the illusion is amazing too. Don't know where it orignially came from.
Is Lorrell your friend? Ara you the one behind "TDad's Purr and Roar?"
June 14, 2005 10:28 PM
Posted by: Michael Kruse | Aug 01, 2005 at 07:42 AM
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lorrell said...
He didn't explain that not only is he my friend, he is my long time hubby and love. That oughta tell you who nashdude is. I often go by "nashbabe" on the 'net. But he is a deacon alongside TDad of Tdad's Purr and Roar. ;-)
June 15, 2005 8:55 PM
Posted by: Michael Kruse | Aug 01, 2005 at 07:48 AM