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Declarations

By Bob Hoernel

I am making available a Portable Document File (PDF) of this book. Although it has not been fully proofed, it is paginated in the same manner as the published work.

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The premise -- in as much as there is an underlying assumption to these offerings -- is simply that we tend to take 'it all' far too seriously. I emphasize the importance of play in these writings, and so long as we are able to think there is always something to play with. My own play, as well as the play I act in and observe in life, is personal: I strive to keep my play (and the possible ramifications of my playing) to myself . . . and seek to avoid (as much as possible) intervening in the lives of others. Nevertheless, all that we say and do influences those around us: this is why I have been so reluctant to declare the significance of what I have been trying to put into words for all these years. So long as those for whom I care are free to make their own sense of 'things' (and, if they think it necessary, their own decisions), whatever influence one may have upon others is tempered. I am willing to shoulder the weight of responsibility for my own words and actions, however I have no will to carry the burden of responsibility for intervening in the lives of others (and especially those who are closest to me). But there is also another 'pillar' upon which all this rests: this has to do with an apparent need to seek some 'higher' authority.

All may not agree with this apparent need. I would say that the 'argument' between Voltaire and Leibniz (as characterized by Dr. Pangloss in the satire of Candide) speaks volumes here: I would come 'down' on the 'side' of Leibniz and Pangloss . . . that is, we inevitably come to recognize the need for an appeal to some kind of ultimate authority. The declaration of Pangloss captures this 'pillar' most succinctly: "Everything happens for the ultimate good in this, the best of all possible worlds." For myself, this declaration is not borne of a sense of temerity or of frailty; rather by a sense of humility. As I undertake to make these personal declarations public, I do so with a sense that whatever happens (or fails to happen) will be appropriate. Perhaps my felt need to share all this is but natural, but perhaps something more. Whatever 'the case,' the Great Mystery remains; the mystery has not been solved or dissolved. My choice was never to share this or not . . . it was simply whether or not I could or should ignore it. Eventually, I could no longer ignore confronting this that gnawed at me from within . . . and, inevitably, I defer to higher authority.