Issue 47 · One poem
If I Had a Wish
The oldest question, asked with a full heart.
TsH
Reflections 1991
If I had a Wish....
A large lecture hall, filled with people, all dressed formally...Dressed as they are, it gives them an image of uniformity, yet it is possible to pock out a college student here, a well-to -do grandmother over there, a group of distinguished businessmen up front. A low buzz of conversation fills the hall, rising and falling in waves. The buzz dies gradually as the lighting falls and a spotlight appears at one corner of the stage in front. An elderly gentleman, in a tuxedo and with silver hair, fairly distinguished looking, steps from the wings on the right-hand side of the stage. He walks to the podium in the center, clears his throat, taps the microphone, and speaks:
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to open this lecture by thanking all of you for inviting me here tonight. It is rare that I get such an opportunity, and I am grateful. Before I begin, I would like to say that anything that I say tonight are my own views, and are not those of this fine university hosting us tonight. With that out of the way...
The question presented to me:
If you had a wish, what would that wish be?
is deceptively simple. My immediate impulse was to find the biggest and worst problem and wish it away. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? However, what is the worst problem? And wish it away from whom? Would it be population pressure? War in the Middle East? Or would it be best to help out the daughter of the lady down the street? Yes, You guessed it, another teen pregnancy. Or should the desire to commit criminal acts be purged from the psyche of the human mind? If this question is to be answered fully, it needs to be thought about for an extended period of time. Sit and think I did, and the answer I came up with was this: I wished that I could know.
You see, I wanted answers to all of my questions. Questions dealing with death, and with life. Many have been answered already, but I had no way of knowing that any of those answers were valid of correct. The question I have about death is fairly self-evident: since everybody dies- what happens to them after they die? Not their body, but to them, their essence, what makes that person unique. This is the question that religions have been addressing ever since man became man. If I had to choose just one answer, I would choose to know the truth about this subject. The answer presented thus far can be divided into three categories: the eternal reward, the eternal sleep, or the great unknown. Which of these philosophies do you subscribe to? What would happen should you find that your philosophy is incorrect?
There are some basic problems with life as well, that could use a little help being resolved. If we were given the key to relationships, both individuals and groups of people, it would do away with many social problem the world has. Another problem that seems to keep cropping up while people are still among the living has to do with wealth an d material goods. Having sufficient knowledge of the sciences, both soft and hard, would alleviate these problems; there would be enough of everything for everybody. These are just a few examples of the major problems that all-encompassing knowledge could solve.
My reasons for choosing this wish were two-fold: one totally selfish, and one a bit less so. The selfish reason would obviously be to make me content. The altruistic reason would be to help others. If this knowledge were made available to everybody, it would be just as helpful to them as it would be to me. If this wish were granted, I can foresee a multitude of positive aspects. While on the other hand, there are two clearly negative aspects that I can see. One would be the loss of humor (why would people joke if they already knew the punch-line?), the other would be the possible fall of some or all established religions.
Unfortunately, I am not terrible optimistic about having my request granted. There are many other people throughout history who have no doubt wished something similar, specifically the Greek philosophers, and to my knowledge (pun intended) it was not granted. So I will have to do with the ancient philosophers did; work as best I can with my powers of logic an intuition. It is also possible that their wish was granted, but, each person being so different, their truth was quite different form truths discovered by others. There may be no absolute truth after all, only individual truths. If I ever do find out, however, I hop it is possible to inform you all. This is obviously unlikely if I have to pass through the curtain of life to find out. (Short pause, small laugh.) Thank you all again, I hope that I have not wasted your time. Good night, Gentlefolk.
The old gentleman exits the stage, the spotlight dies, and the regular lighting comes back on. One by one, or in groups, people stand and leave. After the last person has left, the audio and lighting people descend form their control booth above the audience and leave as well. The last one, upon leaving, switches off the lights, plunging the theater into darkness.
Two weeks and two days later, the speaker disappears, never to be seen again. A short article appears in the local paper. Several college students who attended the lecture gather to talk about it. None came up with anything that bears repeating. They continued to think about it on their own. One by one, they disappear as well. Over the years, the same thing happened to every person who had attended the speaker's presentation, always disappearing one by one. Generations later, there happened along our kindly old speaker, with almost identical results. Was the old man's wish granted? Did those people disappear to a better world? Or did they just die? Did they die at all? What do you think? Do you know?
I am indebted to my English teacher, Mr. Bridge, for his comments and suggestions, to Mr. Harrison, who went over this entry with me as well, and to various friends and family members who offered their comments (Burn it. Feed it to the pig, son-) and last of all, to my wonder-cat, Bozo, for putting up with me.
Scott (Jawzo) Garvin
(May 4, 1973 - July 9, 1992)
“If you had a wish, what would that wish be?”
If I Had a Wish