Whimsy leaned toward Wonder and whispered, "Bees knees please the breeze." He looked expectantly at Wonder, as though he had shared some state secret, eyebrows popping in a suggested and silent conspiratorial brotherhood. Wonder was at a loss as to what to say. He turned to Virtue with a quiet desperation born of bewilderment. When Virtue simply smiled and cocked her head, Wonder was left to sputter, "Ah, umm, yes...er, ahhh...I'm sure that's true." Wonder was uncertain if he felt more captivated--or exasperated--by Whimsys declaration.
When nothing more came from Wonder, Whimsy seemed a bit crestfallen. Exhaling, he looked all around and in a singsong cadence declared, "Wonder blunder under the Thunder;" then, with a touch of Virtue's shoulder announced, "you're it," before careening madly down the path and melting into the woods.
Wonder looked at Virtue with more than a little confusion, asking "what did he mean Vi? What blunder did I make?" Virtue slung an arm over Wonder's shoulder suggesting, "lets keep walking," and resumed their journey. It was some time before she said, "Whimsy was making the point that you fail to see the continuity. That all things are really one thing. That life is nothing more than God revealing Himself in a million different ways."
This helped Wonder not at all. He felt as though a secret was purposely being kept from him. He dejectedly asked Virtue, "is that what he said, Vi? I didn't hear him mention God at all."
"Well", Virtue started, "thunder is often used as a metaphor for God. The ancient text's are filled with descriptions of it being His voice, or a manifestation of His power. Whimsy was saying you don't hear His voice--His message--in the flight of the bee. That bees knees, nearly always seen laden with pollen, not only ensure the regeneration of flowers, but food for bee offspring as well. It is a classic win-win situation. Naturally, this would 'please the breeze,' since the continuation of life is Life's purpose, and the breeze is most certainly a part of Life. It doesn't exist outside of it."
"So the breeze is a part of Life, Vi?"
"Everything is a part of Life Wonder."
"Even death?"
"Especially death. How can transformation take place without death? All that Life feeds on is--Life! That constitutes death in your mind. But it is simply an alteration of the physical, not the spiritual. Just as there couldn't be death without life, there can't be life without death. If there is no up Wonder, you can't possibly go down. And how would you go forward, if backward didn't exist?"
But Vi, why can't we just live forever?!"
"You do Wonder, you do."
"How do you know Vi? How can you be sure?"
Virtue chuckled softly, turned and looked deeply into Wonder's eyes. "It's simple," she said, "every little breeze seems to whisper, 'eternities.' " *
* (apologies to Maurice Chevalier)
