People I know talk about a spirit and a spiritual life that they claim goes on within them. They acknowledge that this spirit thing is supernatural, and beyond that difficult to explain. I understand the word “spirit” as in “a frisky and spirited horse.” Or “spirits” as in alcoholic beverages.

Yes, spirits, that adult beverage that so soothes the mind, relaxes the vise of reality, loosens the tongue and offers hope of companionship -intimacy perhaps. Words, I believe, come from man, and thus man has knowingly bound together the supernatural with ethanol, the most widely used depressant in the world, and it has been thus bound together for thousands of years.

Ben Franklin noted that, “Beer is evidence that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

I’d add, if I were more of a believer, evidence too that God is gentle and not vengeful, that he would let an old man sit quietly in an Irish pub amongst his friends and with a pint.

If you have a heart like the sea, pick up the wine
that reveals  what being human is really about. Rumi

George's selection of 66 Phlogs is available in print from People's Press.

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