Delving Deep

...maybe the wisdom philosophy brings isn’t the parent of happiness, which is not that gloomy a suspicion; after all, if only the wise can be happy, the rest of us are in a bad way indeed.

Since the day I finished Death on A Friday Afternoon, which I spoke of in a recent blog, I have been dealing with a frustrating lack of direction in my reading. This despite having gleaned from the book a great calm even with an understanding both clear and muddy (if that paradox can make sense) which calls so strong towards the transcendent that I can barely stand it. I want more reading like that. Yet I'm not sure it's available on this Earth.

A great and welcome diversion has come to me through The Ballpark Book, thanks to my buddy Ron. Reading it is a balm (I assure you I am not trying to overstate the point) which I sorely needed. It's filled with talk about baseball and the classic stadia in which it was and is played. On that level I'm back to reading for enjoyment, and it feels good.

Yet I still want more of what I'll call here heavy reading, the thing which grants understanding yet draws us further towards Truth. Not your truth of my truth; that is no more than a frivolity which borders on hubris, but the Truth. It is there, you know. We can accept it or deny it, but there is no bluff to call, and we deny it at our peril.

In that search I find myself reading old issues of The Underground Grammarian, a delightful series which my friend Paul introduced me to eons ago. The Grammarian, one Dr. Richard Mitchell, speaks in ways which address the ethereal, the numinous, the Truth. I pulled that quote above from one his essays.

We can, if we wish, seek and find that truth. It isn't only for the philosophers but for us all. Don't leave happiness to them. Discover it for yourself.