I'm not a guy who thinks much about God. Well, that’s not completely true, cuz sometimes I wonder about folk’s weird conceptions of God, like those time honoured drawings and paintings of a old bearded white guy, reaching out to touch the hand of man, running the planet from the heavens, making it sunny or rainy, allowing school kids to mercilously bully other kids till they commit suicide, and giving my son spina bifida, the joker. Never really had all that much faith in God. But I do have faith in man.
Faith in “man” is what it’s all about. To me, that is the whole message in a nutshell, the message that Jesus and all those other cats want us to get, which somehow gets agonizingly misinterpreted. But it’s not an easy concept to grasp.
It’s not easy to have faith in man. Sometimes men, and women, do disappointing and foolish things, like lie to you, or steal your car, or break into your house, or fuck your best friend, or kill your dog. Sometimes people who seem to be perfectly well adjusted folks, pillars of the community, and who have done many good works, turn out to be rapists, child molesters or abusers, and serial killers. Or they do some other less appalling but still sinful dirty deed, like stealing money from the cash register at their work. Lessee, make the lunch for the kids, fill the bird feeder, send the ‘lectric bill, kiss the spousal unit and wish them a good day, drop the kids at school, call mom, oh crap look at all those 20s in this till, shit, I’m takin’ a couple.
Everyone (except my wife Marie, the most virtuous person on this mighty orb, no kidding) has done something bad in their life. I stole something from someone one time, when I was a teenager, over 40 years ago. I have regretted it SO MUCH all my life, but it did happen. That experience has also propped me up to never do anything like that again. I have gone on to better myself.
But while I don’t believe in God, I do believe in the collective unconscious. Call the collective unconscious God if you wish. If we all have faith in man, and talk about the good things that men and women do and can do, put the emphasis on that all the time, that’s the ticket. I get so tired of all the bad news on TV. I don’t think it’s healthy for the collective unconscious to dwell so much on the negative. Sure it might be titillating and interesting to see all the “worst case scenario” news on Channel 8, or watch a documentary about some serial killer, but I would love to see more balance, more good news. We need to have more faith in man, and faith in man will breed more faith in man, and more and more faith in the collective unconscious, and better behavior by all citizens. That’s the message! That’s what Jesus thinks! When men (or women) disappoint with negative behaviors, turn the other cheek! And if we all do that, and have faith in each other to do the right thing, magic happens.
Im not saying that you don’t lock up the serial rapist and throw away the key. But you do treat him humanely, and give him treatment. And when you catch someone in a lie, you don’t write them off as a lost cause and never trust them again. You tell them how disappointed you are, you tell them how they broke your heart, and you tell them to stop that shit. Then you forgive them. And you try with all your heart to have faith in them, as you go forward. And if you do that, they just might not lie to you again, and your faith will be affirmed and rewarded.
I have often wondered about home court advantage. There is no disputing the fact that teams win more at home than they do away, or, that they more often lose on the opposing teams home court. It is not impossible, for example, for the Phoenix Suns to beat The Los Angeles Lakers in LA, but it is more likely, as was the case this past week, that professional teams will win more games at home. The stats are overwhelming that there is actually truth to the concept of “home court advantage”. Is it because the guys or girls on the teams are just more comfortable at home? That they got more rest in their own bed? That they got to have their favourite breakfast, "moon over my hammy", at their favourite Dennys? Oh, that might be a little part of it. But what I think makes teams win more at home is that the home crowd is cheering and screaming and having faith in their team, and that’s what tips the balance. The collective unconscious of the crowd believing that their team is going to do good, do the right thing, and rousingly exclaiming their faith. Simple.
So I am gonna have faith in man and go forward believing that men and women are gonna do the right thing. And if they don't I'm still gonna give them the benefit of the doubt, and know they can do better.
Oh and Steve, that $5000 you owe me, fuggedaboudid. Call me. I miss you.
My story in annoying detail:
That's Marie and I in the photo above, sitting pretty in some lovely Oregon RV park, a couple years ago. We love our Airstream, as I have waxed on about here many times, and even took the tripod along, apparently, to catch Ma and Pa Kettle at their most relaxed. 
