Murkiness, punctuated by an occasional pair of headlights as darkness bleeds into a dull, grey-blue drabness. As I sit at my computer, watching the day attempt to unfold, it occurs to me that I’m ascribing human attributes to the natural phenomenon of daybreak. I see the transition from nighttime to morning as an effort by nature—or the universe or something I can’t quite understand or describe—to accomplish a herculean task. Is the idea that nature is attempting to salvage the world, after a night in which the world has abandoned the sun, utterly absurd? Yes, of course it is, and I don’t believe it for a moment. But I’m perfectly comfortable pretending it is so. Make-believe is my way of coping with the madness around me. It helps me make sense of chaos, allowing me to bring order to circumstances over which I have absolutely no control. It sounds a lot like religion, doesn’t it? Yes, I think it does, and that’s a scary thought. Despite my acceptance (or perhaps it’s closer to tolerance) of the religious aspects of Unitarian Universalism, I have problems with what I consider the dangerous potentials within many religions. The creedal nature of most of them tends to enable their followers to abandon critical thinking, relying instead on “higher authorities” to make interpretations of the creeds and to determine appropriate behaviors associated with them.
As usual, I’ve gone off on a tangent not entirely on track with my original thinking as I started typing this morning. Last night, over a vegetarian appetizer dinner with a small group from our church, the subject of adult ADHD came up. Two of the people around the table said, with conviction, they deal with in every day. I have for years felt that I might have a relatively mild form of the affliction. That could be the reason I can’t seem to finish much of what I begin writing. I lose interest or my interest in something else overtakes my interest in something else. Hmm. It’s something to ponder. But, for now, I have to get dressed and go stand in line to get my “enhanced” driver’s license. So I can board planes and travel to welcoming places. That sounds inviting.
