One of these things is not like the other.

There is a quality in some things so rarefied - sunsets, thunderstorms, kittens - there must be some transcendent attribute to them, otherwise there is no reason to value them any more than sewers or blisters or landslides.

As you know (if you've read much here), I'm the first person to say you can't ignore a possibility just because it's unthinkable, during which times I usually have in mind fundamentalist religious extremes.

But there is nevertheless a kernel of enlightenment there, as on Sesame Street when children are asked, "Which one of these things is not like the other?"

If a category of things consistently expresses a transcendent nature, and our understanding is worth deepening - even if that means only sitting on a porch swing until the sun goes behind the trees - then there is a something there. Not a measure, a response, but a thing.

Which one of these things is not like the other?

[2013-03-13]

c0

Overheard:
I don't believe it because it makes me happy. I believe it because it's true.

[2013-03-11]

c0

I thought this was funny

[2013-03-15]

c0