CERTAINTY

i don't know what to think
i don't know what makes us tick
i don't know the state we're in
i don't know anything
all i'm certain of is my uncertainty

i wrote those lines in seoul back in 2003
and to my mind they're still true more or less
we can all come up with our nice little theories
explaining the nature of the universe
the meaning of life
we can work em up into something fancy
weave stories around them
test em in laboratories
even market them as world religions
or postulate them as scientific laws
but it doesn't make them certainties
or even probabilities
tonight i met a man who blew me away with his certainty
a member of the christian orthodox church
who informed me categorically
that jesus and god are one and the same
that the catholics and the protestants have it all wrong
that there are two types of people
believers and non-believers
that one type will go to heaven
and the other will be damned in hell
that it's their choice and they go willingly
it's all there in black n white in revelation
when i explained that i believed there was something out there
something beyond the everyday human experience
but that i was neither sold on the bible
nor evolution theory
that you could call me agnostic
he shook his head
and smiled sadly at my heretic views
there was no room for doubt in this dude's head
no truck with woolly nonsense about 'something out there'
no time for mystery
nah
this fella had it all completely sussed
all mapped out
not a shadow of doubt
not an ounce of uncertainty
not even a tiny smidgin
110% sure
absolutely categorical...
sometimes it must be nice to feel that way
but other times it must be suffocating
the art of living says: stay alert
don't get complacent
keep questioning
don't rest till you're satisfied
and then still don't rest...
tomorrow: focus