I took my son to see the live action remake of Charlotte's Web yesterday--it was actually a fantastic effort to remake an American classic. I am an emotional man by nature and often find myself pushed and pulled by sympathy and sentimentality. As a young boy, I would ofen anthropomorphize toys and other inanimate objects, attributing deep feelings and even death to them.

I can really think of no better way to introduce a young child to death (besides actually having them undergo losing a loved one) than through story. And I can think of few better stories to introduce a young person to death than Charlotte's Web. I believe this is because it masks the rough truth of death in undying love and selfless giving, much like the story of the crucifixion.

And while Infidel753 and I may agree on the inherent dangers of the human being that has given themselves over sheepishly to a constellation of religious metaphors put forth by a dubious beauracracy of men with questionable political and economic motives who seek to convert religious fervor into worldly power--I think we might also agree that we human beings need these stories to find ourselves and our place in our environment.

And this brings me to my point--how many people out there are living with minds already past the point of redemption? How many minds out there are stuck in a routine of thought that only spirals downward?

I think it is of the utmost importance to have a mind that is fresh and new and interprets the phenomena of the world just like the child's mind. Meditation is the only tool I know of that can refresh and recharge the mind. It can't be done through psychedilics, pharmaceutical or surgery because those things only affect intentional breaks in the patterned routine of the thought processes, breaks the mind must route around and which eventually cause a mental breakdown.

But meditation, the kind which begins with the draining away of the ego and the accumulation of experience through time in the moment (there is no process of becoming enlightened and free--the first step is the only step)--is the means of acquiring a fresh mind and every human being is capable of grasping this knowledge of the ending which is the beginning of true intelligence.

We need our stories but we need green thoughts that bud from the soil of our collective unconscious far more than we need anything else besides sunlight, water, air and food to keep our bodies moving.

Merry Christmas everyone!

LINKS:

• Cannabis is "Affecting Young Minds" ("Duh")
  

• Magic Mushrooms Ease OCD Symptoms
  

• Buy your own Festivus Pole ("A Festivus for the Rest of Us")
  

• Bush Ponders $10 Billion Reconstruction Plan in Iraq while the American Gulf Still Languishes (I will be reporting live on the state of New Orleans next month)
  

• Study find video games may be beneficial to your brain
  

• Calvin and Hobbes Snowman Tribute Page
  
  

• What the NY Times wanted to tell you about Iran (but what the CIA wouldn't let them)
  

• Weapons Made from office supplies
  

• Salma Hayek has something to say (but I don't seem to recall what it was for some reason)