The Abyss

“And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” --Friedrich Nietzsche

The truth is, it takes a strong man to look into the abyss and not jump. Whenever I sit on a balcony, I guess because I have so much self-destruction in me, I always feel a notion to jump.

You know how they talk about how some times we are a pay check away from poverty? I think that some times we are a tragic event away from the abyss. But it really takes courage to look into the abyss, stare it down and not accept its invitation.

When we spend time on the fringes of life it seems real easy to find yourself slipping into the abyss.

….I’m sorry, but If I’m Kilgore, do I really want George W. Bush campaigning for me on election eve?… I think Tim Kaine fairs better in Richmond with Mark Warner and Doug Wilder, who is the MAN in Richmond….

It seems that often times we are one small step away from being in the abysmal places of life. One little thing can be the straw that breaks the camels back.

I mean, socially it is easy to sit on the fringes, and have one comment made that pushes you out of a social group. In your family a series of “unfortunate events” can transpire and then one family member can say a word that pushes you completely out of the door to solitude. In school one bad test can be the door to flunking out.

….wait a second, I really shouldn’t blog while watching the news, did you know there are modern day pirates in Somalia? No kidding…..

A misplaced illness, an argument with a loved one, a bad grade, a flat tire, a negative bank account, a misplaced word, a stubbed toe, a disconnected phone call, running out of toilet tissue at an inopportune time… who hasn’t had these things to happen? But when they happen in a combination during one stretch of time, we are lowered closer to the opening of the abyss.

Responsibility, determination, love will pull against the lure … but most of all it is your faith that has to deciding influence to pull you away from the abyss. You’ve gotta believe that you don’t belong there. That when the abyss gazes into to you it finds nothing akin to itself inside of you. That you may only visit, and glance through the window of the abyss. It’s not a place of habitation. Iit isn’t even a nice place to visit. But visit we must. Always keeping in mind it is not a where we belong. And when you are not visiting, be sure to recognize someone who is staring in. Throw them a rope, tie it to something steady and help guide them out. It is the responsibility of all who have made the journey to the edge of the abyss stared in and when the abyss looked back was unable to see it’s own reflection.