Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Answer to All Eternal Questions

Last night, M. had trouble falling asleep. "What seems to be the problem?" I asked. "You'll think it's crazy, Mom, but it just popped into my head and I can't stop thinking about it and I just don't know..." "What is it?"

"What is the meaning of existence, Mom? I mean, why are we here?"

Crap. And here I thought he was going to ask something easy like whether Santa was real.

Philosophers and all manner of learned and common men have been asking that question since time began. How to answer? And more importantly, how to answer so he'd feel reassured enough to actually go to sleep?

And then it came to me, like the hand of God touching me in a blessing. "It's love, honey. We're here to love each other and nothing else matters." He was asleep in 10 seconds flat.

All his questions should be that easy.