WILSON: A metaphysical task: Part three

Published 8:57 am Thursday, March 26, 2020

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Previously: Quite inexplicably, a creature known as the Human, met up with a still, small, Voice at the edge of the universe. While there, the Voice explained that a message had been implanted in the memory of the Human because it had been chosen to deliver the message to all of its kind. Unfortunately, implanting the message messed with the Human’s memory, creating temporary amnesia — hopefully, temporarily.

A foul ball on a 3-and-1 pitch careened toward the bleachers along the left field line. A quick bounce off the roof of the home team dugout absorbed some of the energy before the ball found the back of a spectator’s head — knocking Terry out, cold. Although it seemed like an eternity to the onlookers, it only took a few moments before Terry started to regain consciousness. First, the eyes opened, closed, and opened again, adjusting to and absorbing the sight of people gawking and hovering overhead. Next, the ears tuned in the cacophony of the ballpark. Finally, the nose, tongue, and innumerable epidermal nerve endings took in the aromas, tastes and textures of the ballgame. “What’s going on?” Terry asked.

“A foul ball beaned you a good one,” answered Kim. Pat nodded in agreement. Sidney, Avery, Riley, Morgan, Parker, Robin, Hollis, Dakota and Peyton followed suit.

“Are you alright?” asked Sandy.

“What’s going on?” the Human asked again. “Who are you? Why am I here? Who am I? Am I on hallucinogens?” The Human blasted through the series of questions without pausing for answers.

“We are your buds,” Pat attempted to calmly answer each question in the order they were received. “We are at the ballpark, watching the Tigers lose. You are Terry. I don’t know if you are on hallucinogens, but you did have a couple of beers.”

“What happened to the Voice?” asked the Human, once known as Terry. “The only thing I remember was the Voice telling me I was chosen to deliver a message to all of my kind. Are you my kind?”

“Well…” Sidney hesitantly tried to continue answering the continuing questions. “We’re your buds. I guess ‘your kind’ would include the 12 of us — and probably everyone else, too.”

The Human looked around at the group and tried to understand. The group looked at their bud and, also tried to understand. It wasn’t working for any of them.

“I found myself at a point in space and time where no one has ever been, before,” the Human slowly began to recount the few memories available. “I heard a Voice that seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere, all at once. The Voice was very quiet, but it filled my entire being.” The Human looked around at the gathering, as the words sidestepped the brain and effortlessly formed at the lips. “I kept trying to understand what was going on, but the Voice told me that many things are beyond what we can understand. We just have to accept them.”

A few of the Human’s compatriots nodded in hesitant agreement. They were more than happy to stop trying to wrap their brains around whatever was going on. The rest looked confused, but interested in knowing more.

“You see,” the words continued to form, “If you insist on understanding everything you know, you will know very little.”

A few more buds slowly nodded their heads in tentative acceptance of the explanation. The rest continued to look confused, but still interested.

The Human moved up a slight incline so that it could get a better view of the gathering of buds.

“A message was implanted in my memory,” the Human began, again. “The Voice told me I have to share the message with everyone. Unfortunately, I can’t remember anything else — including the message. However, the Voice also told me I will know, what I need to know, when I need to know it.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Hollis.

“Guess I’ll have to wander all over the place and tell everyone I meet that I have a message to share, and I will be returning, at the right time, with that message — and then leave it up to them to accept how important it is. Anyone want to tag along?”

With that, all 12 of the buds rose to their feet and followed after the Human on the Metaphysical task of delivering the message — as each of them understood it to be.