It’s snowing out – the snow is heavy, wet. This is one step up from a squall. March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb and April, says T.S. Eliot, is the cruelest month. I had always through that February is the cruelest month, but good old T.S. beat me to the punchline.

Pete has just gone skiing. Later I will go horseback riding. I’m going to hold out for sunshine.

It’s Easter Sunday. The other day I told someone that I am not a person a faith. I added that it’s good that there are people who have faith. I didn’t elaborate, but I thought that they can do the praying for me. I equate faith with hope – they are both inextricably linked. They both are an example of wishful thinking. I say that what will be will be and that hoping or having faith in a higher power isn’t going to affect the outcome.

If I were to do religion all over again, I’d be a Buddhist. Buddhists are cognitivists, they believe in the power of the mind, not to change things but to accept what is. Hence, their focus on breathing and meditation.

The problem is, it would take more years than I have left to learn all that there is to be learned about this particular form of spiritual growth. And it seems pretty complicated to me because there is another language with many, many nuances.

If there were Buddhist meditation classes locally, I would attend. I’ve tried meditating on my own, but I fear that I’ve been missing something. I’m not able to clear my head out. Thoughts creep back in, as Carl Sandburg would say, “on little cat feet.” I attempt to push these thoughts away. You are supposed to just let them go. How is that supposed to work?

The Buddhists (to my knowledge) also don’t rely heavily on the use of mythology in getting their ideas across. Christians are heavy into mythology and analogy. Easter alone is a real analogy-related grab bag. Spring is considered to be a time of rebirth – chicken and rabbits abound. These animals take a real hit, with people bringing them home then quickly figuring out that they lack the space and knowledge to care for them.

There are a lot of sweets of all kinds – chocolate rabbits and marshmallow hens for instance. And there are dyed eggs, which are hidden, and which kids attempt to find on Easter morning. Oh yeah, and the food of choice is lamb. How barbaric can one get?

And all must go to church and hear the story about Christ rising from the dead. Did he arise from the dead? I am dubious. Some would say that I’m a cynic, but I say that I’m a realist. My head may be above the clouds, but my feet are firmly on the ground.

I am being far more honest here than I ought to be. Best, around Christians, I just keep my ideas to myself.

Next: 99. 4/10/23: I Was Right