6-9-08: Immortality and beyond...

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Sparrowhawk, a formidable but humble mage, says to Arren, a young prince who seeks wisdom and knowledge, "Why should you not desire immortality? How should you not? Every soul desires it, and its health is in the strength of its desire..." From The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin. As I continue to grapple with my mortality, I am reminded of something I've done as a teacher.

I have always provoked and encouraged my students to reaccess that which they assume makes sense. Not like the individuals who come to my door seeking to persuade me to believe as they do, but as an affirmation that we are sure of who we are and how we believe. For example...

Students are always asking me, "How old are you?" I could tell them outright, or I could seize the teaching moment and tell them not a lie, but present a proposition, if you will.

"I was born on December 31, 1899. You tell me how old I am."

All students, to varying degrees, are caught in a temporary flux with this response. Skepticism invariably ensues, but students are nevertheless intrigued enough to do the math to figure out how old that would make me. Some students will say, "No way you can be that old." To which I reply...

"Well, there's a woman in Portugal who's 114 years old (according to Wikipedia)..." and the students are off, googling "oldest people."

Now I must admit that I've flirted with immortality from time to time. On a bicycle, I would always look forward to careening down a sweeping mountain road at speeds approaching and sometimes exceeding those posted and recommended for automobiles. Addicted to the adrenilin rush, I would climb to the top to experience the death-defying descent again. Although Sparrowhawk would tell me that the strength of my desire is a healthy one, he might also add...

"The two poles of balance. Life rises out of death, death rises out of life; in being opposite they yearn to each other, they give birth to each other and are forever reborn... What then is life without death? Life unchanging, everlasting, eternal? What is it but death without rebirth?"

Yeah, kids, I am indeed mortal, but remain compelled to question my existence (and yours) while I still can...

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And beyond...

This will be my last muse in the series. I'll not soon forget those who have called, emailed, visited, sent cards and fed me. Your support in helping me survive and recover from my twist of fate humbles me. I now continue to live as if...

"...some ever-changing, moving balance were reached, like the balance of a body moving forward, as now, on two legs, first one then the other, in the practice of that remarkable art, walking.... Then the deepening of colors of the sky and the soft insistence of the wind replacing my thoughts."

Vic Bunce(Man)