It’s easy to understand why human beings subconsciously walk around in fear, mired in one form of dysfunction or another. Rather frantically, they busy themselves in work, in various forms of play, in social interactions and intimacies, to avoid looking down the barrel of a gun. Well, that’s a touch melodramatic, isn’t it? “Barrel of a gun” is just a trite metaphor. More explicitly, what human beings avoid is staring at the ever present specter of death — avoid thinking about the eventual deaths of loved ones and ultimately their own deaths. The energetic and healthy among them understandably brush aside such gloom. You know, those fleeting thoughts, those transitory thoughts, of mortality. And why shouldn’t they? Unlike those unfortunate American teenagers of many generations who faced death on hundreds of battlefields, today’s teens and young adults see decades stretching out in front of them. Decades of opportunity. Decades of accomplishment. Decades of joy and love. Decades of the latest new devices.  And, according to Henry David Thoreau, decades that promise “lives of quiet desperation.” Oops. Henry didn’t mince words. He was a solitary sort, always a bit somber. You can’t blame him. He died from tuberculosis during the first year of the Civil War. He was just 44. You can understand why he knew something about “desperation.” In his day, Death was always at hand, waiting, and not too patiently. In 2020, Americans have no clue, not a glimmer, of what life was like before this age of instant gratification. Even so, Thoreau’s generation and today’s generations do have one thing exactly in common — it’s called Survival. For humans, Life itself doesn’t differentiate between plenty and privation. As an individual, you may experience God’s gifts — love as a child, love as an adult, love as a parent, pride of accomplishment, periods of exhilaration and contentment and moments of spiritual awakening. But, wherever you stack up — at the top or bottom of the food chain — suffering in this Life is your only guarantee. For reasons often divined by clergy but nonetheless unknown, God set things up to assure you a lifetime of hardship, fear and eventual anguish. No one is spared. No one escapes. Many try. They use alcohol and opioids to escape unrelenting apprehension. Others lash out in anger and resentment. Still others opt for the final solution to get the hell out of Dodge. Thankfully, the majority grits its collective teeth and takes whatever Life dishes out, determined to survive, however desperately. Civilization depends on them. Not since the 2nd World War has that desperation been more apparent than now. People blame a virus that has put Americans out of work, shattered small business and put families at risk. Simultaneously, George Floyd’s killing was a convenient excuse to fuel a wave of politically directed terrorism and anarchy. Instead of unifying a country, the ensuing crisis has driven an iron wedge between races, between governmental factions, between neighbors and between once respected institutions. Individual liberty has given way to the tyranny of group identity and the dictatorship of governmental bodies. Once again fear is epidemic in the world and authoritarianism is a looming shadow. You would think God has had His fill of human Idiocy and Sin. However improper, you think He should reconsider His original strategy. With all due respect, He might evaluate cutting humanity a little slack. Of all His creatures, humans must continually contemplate their eventual demise, must knowingly adapt to the ravages of age, must learn to survive the loss of children and the physical torment of loved ones. Not to suggest you’re entirely ungrateful. Not at all. God’s gifts are boundless. But, with all due respect, he could have allowed humans 60 years of perfect health and a swift end — say, the spiritual version of term limits. No fear of pandemics. No concern for catastrophic illness. No need for hospitals, Continuing Care Communities, rehab and ventilators. On your birthday, have a party, pour your favorite libation (a double), thank everybody, do a handspring and slip out the door. Fantasy aside, it’s possible God is simply waiting for humans to get it right. But last you heard, Vegas doesn’t bother giving odds on futility. On balance, you admit to being miffed at the double standard. God created millions of varieties of life that live instinctively — creatures that fly, swim, crawl, burrow and walk — without cognition — unable to brood over death. For humans, He reserved cognitive power — to live in fear, to grieve, to suffer broken bodies and minds and die with difficulty. By stark contrast, a Mayfly is “born,” flies around looking for mates, finds them, does the big trick several times and dies happy in a matter of hours. You should be so lucky.

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