Maybe you like cars. I don’t really like cars. I like them in that they take me from one place to another. But I can’t tell you the difference between a four cylinder and a six cylinder other than to say the six cylinder is somehow better and seems to make the car go faster. Though every four cylinder car I’ve seen can go about 100 miles per hour, which is far faster than anyone should ever have to go in a car. In fact, I don’t even know where the cylinders go. I don’t know where they come from. I don’t know why they make the car faster. I’m sure I could look this information up, but not knowing doesn’t bother me. I’m content in my ignorance. Why? Because like I said, I don’t really like cars. But maybe you do. Maybe you love cars. Maybe you know exactly where the cylinders go and what they do. And you could argue the merits of a six cylinder car. And, if you put in some effort, you might be able to convince me that six cylinder cars are, in fact, superior to four cylinder cars. Maybe this information interests you. Maybe being a car enthusiast is something you’re proud of. That’s a good thing. I’m glad you’re proud of being a car enthusiast. I, for one, am proud of my disinterest in cars. This is where we might differ. I won’t try to convince you that cars are unimportant and that you should focus your time on things I deem more worthwhile. And you won’t try to convince me that I should pay more attention to cars.
I like boats. Maybe you don’t like boats. I don’t really know much about boats. Or the ocean. I don’t know much about how boats work or how the way boats work pertains to the ocean or how the way boats pertain to the ocean pertains to me. But I like boats anyway. And I like the ocean anyway. Perhaps the mystery is what intrigues me. If I were to collect all the information I can about boats and the ocean, my fascination would cease. The mystery would be lost. The glaring simplicity would be all I could ever focus on. But maybe you hate boats. Maybe you’re too busy with your cars. There isn’t an ocean within miles of this town. Boats don’t interest you. You’re a car person. You recognize that boats don’t operate on that whole cylinder process. Or maybe they do. Like I said, I don’t know much about boats. Or cars. So I couldn’t tell you. But I’ll tell you this. I’m more of a boat person. You’re more of a car person. And that’s okay with me. You shouldn’t become a boat person just because I am a boat person. Maybe you think I am a good person. “That’s one good boat person,” you might say to your friends as I walk by. “A lovely boat person, indeed.” But that doesn’t mean that all boat people are good and lovely. That doesn’t mean that if you were to become a boat person, you’d be good and lovely. You might be good and lovely as a car person. And maybe trying to pass yourself off as a boat person would make you worse or less lovely. Maybe no amount of boat enthusiasm will get you to become better or lovelier. And maybe life is too fleeting to become something your heart opposes. Maybe there is a higher calling than compromising your spirit to fit in. And maybe me being a boat person is what makes you being a car person so wonderful to me. |