“The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow; there is no humor in Heaven.” ~Mark Twain In the face of an absurd universe, we have the choice to balk, to fear, to ignore, or to laugh at the absurdity of our finite condition within a seemingly infinite precondition. Of the four, only laughter has the power to get us out of our own way. Only laughter sets the stage for courage, imagination, and the ability to create meaning despite absurdity. Only laughter can get us past

“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” ~Voltaire What is a red herring? It’s a diversion intended to distract attention from the real issue. It’s an abstract issue having only surface relevance to the original issue. Governing this precept, it stands to reason that the concept of God is itself a red herring. Indeed. God is perhaps the greatest red herring of all time. The ultimate distraction. So, if God is the red herring distracting us from the real is

“Luck is what happens when preparation meats opportunity.” ~Seneca Fate. Chance. Destiny. The vicissitudes of life. Call it what you will, luck favors the disciplined mind. Our luck is unknown. Our fate is indefinite and always on the horizon. There are many potential pitfalls between our comfort zone and that horizon. A lot could go wrong. But, then again, a lot could go right. What will our destiny be? Sometimes not even a positive disposition (the glass is half-full as opp

“The world is a Phoenix. It perishes in flames and even as it dies it is born again.” ~HG Wells Certainty is overrated. It’s an illusion at best, a delusion at worst. We feel like we need to be certain before we act, but we tend to forget that often the most rewarding moments in life come from acting while uncertain of the result. This is the place where spontaneity, adventure, and surprise are born. Even in the times when we thought we were certain, in hindsight it’s usually

“One cannot individuate as long as one is playing a role to oneself; the convictions one has about oneself are the most subtle form of persona and the most subtle obstacle against any true individuation.” ~Carl Jung We all have an inner trickster archetype; just as we all have an inner hero, shadow, eternal youth, and mentor archetype. These archetypes are powerful subconscious forces that manifest in the real world, sometimes without our even being aware of them. But the tri

“Wholeness is the goal, but wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.” ~Parker J. Palmer The dark night of the soul is a double-edged sword. One side of the sword is ego death. It’s an existential pivot point, an ontological crossroads, a buckling threshold. It’s a falling apart. It’s that moment when you finally realize—balls to bones; ovaries to marrow—that there is no permanence, that life is fleeting and all-too-mortal,