When I was a child my parents would drive winding routes throughout the countryside of Ohio or other midwestern states in search of covered bridges to drive under.

Unknown to me at the time, my parents kissed each other every time. Apparently back in their day, teenagers used covered bridges as romantic meeting places. My parents' kissing was their corny way to comemorate this forgotten piece of history.

As a family we might be heading somewhere within 50 or so miles, but my parents would add another 20 miles to our trip in order to find that bridge.

This is an admirable thing if for no other reason than I know for a fact that my brother, sister, and I were some of the bickering-est kids alive.

A Parable

Those who don't believe in the afterlife resemble two twins talking in the womb:

-Soon we'll be born into a new life...

-Brother, that's nonsense; it spells our death. Just imagine, they will take our only source of food by cutting the umbilical. What shall we do? Then there is no new life. How do you know about it? Nobody has come back here yet...

-Soon we will see our Mother...

-Believing in Mother is beyond nonsense. I can't see her now, so she doesn't exist at all. If you're so smart, tell me, where is she?

-I don't know how to explain it... But I feel her love in my heart and when everything quiets down at night, she gently strokes our world and softly sings. Everything is filled with her, and there is such a joy, as if we were abiding in her. Though I don't know much about life after birth, I believe it exists.

(I'm not sure where this "parable" originates, but I believe it is a translation of this song)

Blessed Are the Peacemakers