Looking for meaning in all the wrong places

Something we share accross all cultures and borders is when the chips are down we buckle up, and grin and bear it. Not only are we prepared to suffer in the hope of salvation, but we seem to believe that adversity builds character, failure affords opportunities to learn from, and that living life well is a well earned reward.

We raise our kids to be exemplary, teach them to be competitive and to live up to whatever expectation we hold, and give them the best chance to survive in the dog eat dog world we have left them.

We pay taxes, abhor violence, reward competence, and fight the good fight because we believe it’s the right honourable thing to do. We study and work hard at managing our our trade, try to make time to share with those we consider near and dear, eat healthy, work out, and brush our teeth,all because we believe in the value of our social profile, and we think when we invest in retirement we hedge against austerity and dementia.

We see regular sex as healthy sex, drugs as bad, and pornography as a sure sign of a sick mind. We swear fealty to our country and make pledges expecting them to be kept, declare allegiance expecting reprieve. We hope that science has our best interest at heart, that the law will protect us, attend church to pray, give alms for the poor, pay for our sins, put our trust in luck and hope for salvation.

We talk to God as if we expect divine intervention, lay blame to circumstance, see life as a lesson learned, that every dog has its day, deep down we know there must be more to life than this.