Tubs

Dear You,

It has been disconcerting this summer to be in companionship with so many people -- friends and acquaintances -- who have shown an aversion to "serious talk." By that I mean just about anything relating to events on a larger stage than the little area around us. I have thought of Edgar Lee Masters' "Spoon River," where one of the characters, a cooper, or barrel maker, scoffs at his fellows, saying they think they see Life, but all they see is the "rim of their tub."

Because we are confined to our bodies and to just a few years of history, our experiences in life are narrow. It takes an effort to leave our comfortable surroundings and see what Life -- in a wider sense -- is like, and even then we will never fully know. As a man, I would like to understand the lives of women. As someone born in the mid-twentieth century, I am curious about the ancestors . . . how is my perception different from someone younger? What about those reared in different cultures?

While I remain forever walled in my own Self, I have long sought windows -- I read newspapers and news magazines, I listen to National Public Radio, and (of course!) I read Serious Books. What I believe is that one cannot otherwise be much of a citizen. But what I have experienced in too many recent encounters are fear, anger, distrust, and suspicion, along with an unwillingness to explore whether those feelings are warranted. And I confess, it makes me feel a bit lonely.