The Joker and the Thief

I want to understand the whole of the world. I want to write for people like me who want to explore the world in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. Not blind devotion. Not insane fanaticism.  Only thoughtful seekers of truth.

My internal mental alarm clock went off at 0500.  I  wasn’t ready to get up.  I dozed off again until 06:00.  I did some free writing this morning instead of following the meditative prescription I have been engaging in since the beginning of January.  I felt the need to check in with my Higher Self to see what is going with me and this downshift  in mood I have been experiencing over the last several days.  Perhaps my stomach gave out on me last Thursday as a signal to slow down and do nothing for a couple of days except sleep.  I feel better for it.

The usual suspects were in the gym today.  Bart is back after some time spent in Fort Lauderdale over the holiday season.  I changed up my playlist for this work out.  I listened to five of my favorite versions of Bob Dylan’s classic, All Along the Watchtower.  The song has been stuck in my head since hearing Bear McCreary’s version of the song in season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, the boxset of which I watched during my two days of illness and the subsequent couple of days of recovery last week.  Now, like the final 5, I can’t get the song out of my head.  I know that Bob Dylan wrote the song during a period of his life when he was recovering from a motorcycle accident.  During his recovery, his interest in religion grew. Life threatening accidents seem to have that affect.  The lyrics to All Along the Watchtower contain echoes of the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5-9.  Listening to the lyrics I can see God and Satan as the Joker and the Thief having one of their numerous conversations about the fate of mankind.  “There are many among us who feel that life is but a joke.  But you and I we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate.  So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.”

I finalized my travel arrangements to Hamburg.  I’m planning this thing like a military operation.  Let’s see if it goes down like one.  The taxis is booked for 12:00 that should get me into Leamington in time to catch the 12:29 train to London Marylebone.  If all goes smooth, I should arrive in Marylebone for 14:00hrs.  A quick tube across to Paddington Station, and I should be able to just catch the Heathrow Connect for 14:33, which should put me in Heathrow Terminal 1 for 15:00.  Of course that is 2 hours before the 2 hour check in time, but hey, I figure I am a coffee house writer type, in between my modes of travel, I can find a cafe, sip black coffee, and write, right?

I had a little foray into Leamington, nothing there but people to-ing and fro-ing from one place to another seemingly unaware that we are hurdling through space on this big blue marble with barely any comprehension as to why. Many of us make up our own reasons, our own truths;  others follow someone else’s reasons and truths.  So that we don’t feel totally insane we try to gather or gather around us as many people as we can who harbor the same point of view as our own.

I pretty much spent the evening packing for Hamburg.  I want to travel as light as possible.  I hate lugging around a big suitcase.  However because of the nature of the work I will be doing, I need to bring a lot of my outdoor gear – stuff to keep me warm and dry.  Then of course I need evening attire, so my bag is bigger than I would want it to be.  The other reason I wanted to keep it small is because I have to lug whatever I pack down to and around central London, and I am using public transport to do it.

I can’t decide whether to bring Mark Vernon’s Plato’s Podcasts:  The ancient guide to modern living or Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy’s, The Laughing Jesus:  Religious lies and gnostic wisdom with me for reading during the 8 to 9 hours of traveling and waiting around I’ll be doing tomorrow and on the return Friday.  I’ll probably take The Laughing Jesus considering the collusion of my thoughts led me to Timothy and Peter’s work this morning and since there is apparently no such thing as coincidences, I cannot ignore the signs.  Timothy Freke it is.

The hour is getting late, perhaps it is time for me to sign off now.

Vaya con Dios.  And thanks for reading.

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Additional Resources
The Laughing Jesus

Plato’s Podcasts: The Ancients’ Guide to Modern Living