We are all of us searching for something that might be truth, or at least might resemble the truth. We look for it in the faces of strangers and the gentle touches of friends, in the oblivion and altered lens of reality found in a glass of wine or even, some of us, in other substances controlled from us by our government. We are all searching for something that makes sense, something that will make all the pain and desolution and heartbreak understandable. Unspoken in this is the assumption that somehow things that are more understandable are more bearable. Is it any wonder that we invent gods? There must be, we reason, something better than humanity, something more poewrfull, something _more_. We look to words of old, and presumably more learned, and we look to the wonder found in the young, forever searching for what might be truth. I say that truth is in this moment.. truth is in each of our perceptions, the lens each of us holds up to the world. I say there is truth in all religions, but more than that, there is truth in kindness, truth in gentleness, truth in chosing love over hate. There is truth in living in the moment, grokking each second for all it's worth. There is truth in life.. and eventually, and inevitably, there is truth in death. Be my companion on this search for truth. I will respect your views, your perceptions, if you will respect mine. The four equal possibilities to me are that neither you nor I are right, you are right and I am wrong, I am right and you are wrong, or, what seems likely, we are both right. Or possibly both right some and wrong some. In any case, your perceptions shed further understanding on my own, and I hope, my perceptions are enligtening to you. Touch me. There is truth in touch. Love me. There is truth in love. Try not to hurt me, for mine is a gentle soul, already too much battered by the ways of time, darkness, evil, and pain. I will endeavor not to hurt you :- but sometimes I make mistakes. Please help me to understand when I am hurting you, so I can right the wrong before it becomes a gap between us. Above all else, help me along this road of life, and I will help you.
Also for: Lee, Powell, Mike, Martin, Brad, Roy, and of course that punk ass jeff. You guys are the greatest.