Living the Chemical Life
Living the Chemical Life
by chris anderson
I have to admit that I don’t care about the historical Jesus.
One way or the other.
I’ve always thought there were larger forces at work.
The sun and the wind. The sadness that comes in the afternoon.
Did you know that our bones are only 10 years old?
No matter how old we are, it’s always the same.
Something to do with cells, I guess. With regeneration.
There are miracles like this all over the place,
in everybody’s bloodstream, and that’s alright with me.
Doris Day was once marooned on an island with another man.
Years went by and her husband, James Garner,
was about to marry another woman. Polly Bergen.
But then Doris came back and sang a lullaby to her kids,
then tucked them into bed. And they didn’t even know who she was.
I think that life is just like this.
Sometimes we are the stone and the Spirit is the river.
Sometimes we are the mountain and the Spirit is the rain.
Your thinking reminds me an interview or essay or something I read from David Foster Wallace. He was talking about how the idea of religion in regard to human origin fascinated him, yet when he got down to reading the texts it was boring, dull to him. Not knocking the idea of Christ, but we have lives to live and things we can gather from the environment that make us more wholesome. I went to Zion national park in Utah recently (while I was reading Infinite Jest, actually, in my condo at night). The rock formations were stunningly beautiful. It changed my perspective. The night after our hike a woman fell off of one of the particularly strenuous hikes called Angel’s Landing. It was weird. Your piece is bringing it all back. Wise words you have here Mister Anderson. I appreciate you sharing.
There’s a lot to chew on here. Especially the Doris Day part. I’m still hashing that one out.
This is straightforward, thoughtful, and well-written. I would have left out the last two lines, as I think they stray from the direct nature of the piece into a romantic haze, but other than that, this is a really nice read.
Dorris day reference is to a movie she did where she was stranded on an island with the other guy. They called themselves adam and eve because they were the only two there.
That’s nice, I like it
that is such a beautiful, thoughtful way of putting it. thanks chris.