The good and bad

The good thing--great, really--about accepting that organized religion is silliness, is that you know you're on solid ground. You know you're not blowing smoke up your own skirt, so to speak. You know you're not kidding yourself.  You know there's no pretense.

The bad?

The bad thing?  Things?

You realize that everything is, to an extent, to a large extent, absurd.

All that matters is relationships.

All that matters is doing right.

Doing good.

Doing well.

And doing well by another human being.

Helping others.

Family.  Friends. Colleagues.  Acquaintances.  Heck, even strangers.

And love.  Ultimately, love.

But ultimately, too, truthfully, as John Cougar Mellencamp so rightfully said, in naming his album, "Nothing really matters, and what if it did?"

Most of us can't handle that kind of blunt truth.

What becomes most important, after people and relationships and love and truth and beauty is art and light and all these really wonderful things that are out there.

From the movie, "Moulin Rouge" (forgive me):

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return."

It's a blessing and a curse.

It's a helluva way to go through life.

It's a helluva way to go on.