Cup of Thanks

I was feeling bored so I started thinking about how the environmental crisis would never be solved by mere practice alone because it needed to be accompanied by a revolution in consciousness but I wasn't sure if the revolution in consciousness would alter behavior or if changing behavior first would usher in the revolution in consciousness. Okay, I was bored AND feeling depressed.

Then Zachary started guzzling a glass of water.

See, Zach performs everyday acts with an intensity that tends to attract my attention. He just tipped his head back and- gulp gulp gulp gulp. Then he went and did that magic little thing kids do where they perform a sweetly simplistic act all shot through with profundity and ancient wisdom.

He pulled the tiny purple cup from his lips and made that exaggerated "Ahhhhh" refreshed noise. He held it 12 inches away from his face and admired it with sparkling eyes and a delighted smile.

He made me smile.

I think the cup smiled too.

Zachary's smile was not limited by the bounds of his face. Rather, he created an atmosphere that smiled. Everything in his orbit smiled with him. He set the cup on the table, leaned into it, and said earnestly:

"Thank you, Cup."

Lets step back for a moment: The animistic world, wherein all objects have souls and personality, has long been replaced by a world full of stupid dead objects. Scientific View elbowed its way into being the way things really are. But there is a price to pay for being so damn right.

We could stand to learn a few things from pagans and children- The cup contained the substance which quenched Zachary of his thirst. And for this, he was grateful and found the cup worthy of speech and good manners. Soon, for Zach, the cup will be stripped of its personified traits and be replaced by a hunk of dead plastic.

We call that cognitive development. Growing up. He'll have achieved a more complex level of maturity and he'll consequently score higher in terms of reality testing.

But imagine what kind of world we'd live in if we were all so grateful for Cups. What if we all thanked the chair for so dutifully embracing us after a long day on our feet? The kitchen table deserves your praise! It is not only that which holds your dinner aloft, but it also binds your family around it. What would happen to these various environmental crises if our notion of what is to be respected extended beyond a small handful of people? How would the world look? How would we act? Perhaps sorting and taking out the recycling wouldn't be such a chore or a hassle. It might suddenly be the least we could do. To excitedly walk these things out to the curb toward the next chapter of their service.

Thank you Zachary for reminding me, once again, of my foolish arrogance. I once believed that parents raised children. But it's not true. Children raise us.