Life Recycled

I Would Not Live This Life Again

I would not live this life again, or not without more

information. Seems to me it's better unrehearsed,

and wouldn't most of us prefer not knowing what's

ahead: the problems, which are how we learn; the
pain, which, after all, is transient and makes the joy
beyond so much the sweeter? There are moments
I'd repeat, but all I'd really need would

be the feelings that went
with them.

Where would be the
risk in life recycled? Who could wish for
nothing to be unexpected, no surprises — no
defeats, of course, but then no victories; no whims
to act upon for self-indulgence; never going out
upon a limb, the senses sharpened, heartbeat like
a tympani— not when everything that came
before would be the same

again.

If I could make a different choice this time — but

that could happen only once, for from then on, 
the premise would have
changed. 

God’s system (shall we say? though I've no way of
knowing who devised it) is, in any case, less apt
to bore one, with, as I'm convinced, successive
lives and spiritual progression toward the heights to

which we all are drawn, in spite of what we seem
to want. My level's humble yet; I’m far from ready
to become a monk, nor yet contemplative full-time,
forgoing pretty things. I have no wish to cure my
shopping habit at the Thrifty Mart for second-hand

appliances and satisfactorily tattered overalls. But

when it’s time, I don’t suppose I’ll mind the lack of

bric-a-brac or crisp white cotton shirts with small

pink bows. Already I am too ascetic for my comfort;

since I struggle with it, I deduce my selves are out

of sync, and I could use a very warm Jacuzzi
and an alcoholic  drink— a cold Corona
or a dry merlot with brie on Melba

toast—and yes,
this minute,

please.

==========================

Find blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions.com

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, well known even during his lifetime as a writer and poet. He spent long periods alone in his hermitage on the abbey grounds. In most photographs he looks quite thoughtful, which is why I appreciate the image at right, in which he appears almost jolly.