1. Humans have rough edges. You can wish, even hope some, for civility, but I should think we are surprised any more when we get it. That’s no excuse for holding it back. Human encounters can be lubricated in many different ways, but the cheapest and safest is simply kindness and patience.
We probably all know dogs have all sorts of temperaments, but the average dog is pretty patient with humans who matter to them. While it would be harmful in most instances to be as servile as dogs tend to be — such servility from other people invariably corrupts humans — I can see a distinct use for patience. It costs only a little extra time, and we don’t own that, anyway.
2. All humans are messed up in one way or another. Each of us will operate under varying constraints to our rottenness, but the rot never goes away. At any given moment, the constraints will fail. When the failure is small, nobody notices it much. When the failure is big, lots of people get hurt.
While handing power to another human with one hand, put a gun to their heads with the other. It’s not just your own skin, but that of many others.
3. I have a recurring vision in my dreams, very consistent in substance, widely varied in detail. I regard it as a message from God, albeit filtered through my broken human awareness. Sometime in the near future, someone will, for whatever evil motive, decide to add my body to their collection. Someone who does not love me will acquire my services in doing something I probably won’t like much. They’ll take me some place I’d rather not go. I’ll be with a lot of others in similar straits.
It will be the grandest opportunity of all to test all my blather about mysticism.
4. Sometimes the best training for dealing with others is getting away from everyone, and reducing your own sense of being to the minimum of survival. Anything approaching this can be very therapeutic. Because I have so much trouble with my knees and hips, I tend to ride my bike a lot. It’s one of those with the decent frames you purchase at the big box store with all the cheapest components. One by one, those components break and are replaced with better stuff. I ride a mountain bike with tires suited to asphalt, but still usable off road. I’ve been working at extending my distance in this awful heat wave. Today I got about 24 miles (38.6km); it was just over 80°F (27C) when I left and it hit 100° (38C) by the time I got back.
Not only do I get lots of saddle time to think, I suppose there is something of the physical toughness I might need for when my visions become reality. You may be aware physical toughness is not so much about having high physical tolerance, but having a determination to push it. It helps in life to have a fair estimate of your physical capacities. There are times when sacrificing something by going over the limits is the best prophetic statement you can make. This world is not my home…
