If Life Is Just A Highway…
….and the soul is just a car.
What an interesting wide-ranging discussion last night! Around fifteen or so of us sat together in the Coffee Shop and discussed ideas expressed by Plato in his treatment of Socrates, awaiting the carrying out of the death sentence imposed by the Athenian Assembly. Perhaps there are worse ways to die than by a drink of Hemlock. In anticipation of his impending departure, everyone in the room was grief stricken, emotionally off-balance. Socrates alone faced the prospect of dying with calm, rational acceptance.
And so, the group of us, gathered as friends, not dissimilar to the circle of individuals around Socrates, enjoyed a provocative play with the idea of “the soul.” The integrity, durability, and rationality of the soul was the lynch-pin to Socrates equanimity in the face of termination of his life which was at hand. Traditional Greek religious accounts of the after-life did not provide consolation comparable in importance (and hope) to that of Socrates convictions about the soul.
With this in mind, I offer for your enjoyment and mindful consideration a tune by Meat Loaf. I know, I know, you are thinking, “What! –Not more Rock n Roll!?” Meat Loaf is Homer-like in his story telling ability, a poet of renown, contextualizing great themes within a operatic score. Three stories, from the warp and weft of life, stitched together, a very human meditation upon the texture of time, and of the soul. How true are these stories you may ask? True enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37GrbCUvZEM
The skies were pure and the fields were green,
And the sun was brighter than it’s ever been
When I grew up with my best friend, Kenny,
We were close as any brothers that you ever knewIt was always summer and the future called
We were ready for adventures and we wanted them all
And there was so much left to dream,
And so much time to make it realBut I can still recall the sting of all the tears when he was gone
They said he crashed and burned, I know I’ll never learn
Why any boy should die so youngWe were racing – we were soldiers of fortune
We got in trouble but we sure got around
There are times I think I see him peeling out of the dark
I think he’s right behind me now, and he’s gaining ground!But it was long ago and it was far away
Oh God it seems so very far
And if life is just a highway – then the soul is just a car……..
