The Orchid Journal

Scene I. I know it's not the "pinnacle" of existence, that I am complete without a man that marriage will come with troubles as much as life always comes with pain I know my man will have flaws that he'll annoy me at times that marrying him will take patience as much as I have sins and need grace But I want to know I want to know this love and know a man to journey with him and know his pain I want to know his mind discover the pathways of his heart and prove to the world that choosing to love him is worth it I suspect despite the cynics that this love is rich and freeing that the role of Beloved comes with joy as much as a bird is happy in flying I suspect despite the failures that the previous generation chose that there is hope marriage works as much as God's promises are sure Scene II. Scene III. I wonder how he laughs and I hope he finds me funny because I love to make him laugh as much as I love to laugh. I wonder if h...

This is my favorite profound excerpt from "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok. (A ceiling in the St. Louis Art Museum, Laelia Watt-2013) The main protagonist's father is speaking to him about his death: "Human beings to not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?" He paused again, his eyes misty now, then went on. "I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning so its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not autom...