Sorry for the pause. I was able to get out of Dallas for the first time since March 9th and spent the last few days at my friend’s lake house in east Texas. Being outside on a body of water in a new set and setting proved to be a tremendous boost for my overall mid-pandemic mental clarity. At the same time, the world seems to be blowing up more than usual right now, which is saying a lot in 2020. The social fabric, which was already stretched to a breaking point, is even thinner now. I wasn’t quite sure how to jump back in it here at Helping Friendly Corner, so I decided to go with satire. This next passage is from Helping Friendly Book #2 ‘The Sirens of Titan’ by the great Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Artwork by Banksy. Stay safe out there.

The Prayer of the Reverend C. Horner Redwine

Oh Lord Most High, Creator of the Cosmos, Spinner of Galaxies, Soul of Electromagnetic Waves, Inhaler and Exhaler of Inconceivable Volumes of Vacuum, Spitter of Fire and Rock, Trifler with Millennia — what could we do for Thee that Thou couldst not do for Thyself one octillion times better? Nothing. What could we do or say that could possibly interest Thee? Nothing. Oh, Mankind, rejoice in the apathy of our Creator, for it makes us free and truthful and dignified at last. No longer can a fool point to a ridiculous accident of good luck and say, 'Somebody up there likes me.' And no longer can a tyrant say, 'God wants this or that to happen, and anyone who doesn't help this or that to happen is against God.' O Lord Most High, what a glorious weapon is Thy Apathy, for we have unsheathed it, have thrust and slashed mightily with it, and the claptrap that has so often enslaved us or driven us into the madhouse lies slain!

- Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

CORNER

27 : Satire