Much of the on-going speculation, of which I, too, am guilty of having propagated, reminds me of a poignant and all-too-brief scene I recall from the recent apocalyptic film titled, "2012", - which by the way was a really awful film. 100% special effects - 0% plot.
Out in the wild snow-capped mountains of Tibet we see two monks who are conversing with each other, a young student, and a wise old master. The young student is in an agitated state. The student is trying to talk his way through a multitude of personal misgivings pertaining to a spate of global warning signs for which he recently has become aware of. It's all in the news, he tells his master! And what are all these government officials doing near our village - digging and excavating vast tunnels within the mountain. What is happening to the world! What can we do! This is terrible! The wise old monk gazes at his troubled student. The master picks up a tea kettle and proceeds to pour tea into his student's empty cup. He pours, and continues to pour while the student watches on. Inevitably, the tea begins to flow over the brim of the student's cup. The student exclaims to his master to stop pouring more tea. Can't the old master see that his cup is overflowing? That was precisely the point the master was trying to make to his young agitated student. The student's incessant agitation, all that speculation about things he had no control over was nothing more than tea overflowing over the top of his cup. * * * * I truly grieved when in the movie the special effects artist depicted a massive tidal wave rushing over the tops of the Himalayan mountains - fast approaching the wise old monk who sat calmly in the center of his hut, a hut that had been built on top of a mountain. When the old master spotted the first wave he got up and began ringing a warning bell. All he could do was witness the spectacle heading straight for him, as if he was nothing more than a fly facing a fly swatter. Damn! If anyone should have survived the ensuing global disaster, it should have been that wise old monk. BTW, the young student monk DID survive the calamity, minus one of his extremities, but hopefully wiser from the experience. Bah! Hollywood! Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
