Coming soon via satellite and the internet -
it’s the Gordon Show!
This is the television production of the ages.
Continually running for 45 seasons with a cast of millions, and every set is
perfect down to the last detail. The backdrops are stunning, every prop is
historically correct, and the houses are all authentic; the dressers even have
socks in them.
The actors have spent their lives preparing for
their roles, even those who only have walk-ons. The truck driver who passed the
star in scene 27-7/13-18:20 was groomed from childhood to be a truck driver for
that part. He drove trucks for 25 years, immersed in the culture of the road,
all so that he might be authentic for his brief appearance on the show. It’s the
same for all the actors on the Gordon Show. Every school teacher, coach,
neighbor, and friend were raised from childhood to be thoroughly prepared for
their various roles.
The studio maintains several retirement
communities and recreational facilities for the actors whose parts in the Gordon
show are over. Occasionally they get called back for a dream scene or a memory
sequence, but mostly they lounge around the pool and take advantage of the
generous buffet tables.
Why look, there’s Carmen, the little girl
Gordon loved back in kindergarten because she could color in the lines. That was
such a sweet episode, wasn’t it? A real crowd pleaser. Funny how she hasn’t
grown. Over there by the shuffleboard is Gordon’s grandmother, still smoking her
Pal Mals. And there’s Lance, Gordon’s best friend for most of the 10th
and 11th seasons. I hear the cast from last season’s Colorado episode
are having a reunion tonight at Bennigan’s.
Yes, it’s the fabulous, fantastic, Gordon show,
where a neo-Ptolemaic revolution has revealed that the universe not only
revolves around the earth, but specifically around whatever point on the earth
that Gordon happens to occupy. Whole galaxies have existed before recorded time
only to provide one or two stars in Gordon’s personal night sky.
Wait a minute! There’s our star now, walking
though the parking lot and toward his next scene. He waves to the crowds, nods
to bit players from previous episodes, pauses to comfort weeping girlfriends
from those classic 17th and 18th seasons, and all the
while he is signing autographs.
Oh, he’s heading toward us. Hush now, for there
is quiet on the set. A new scene is about to begin. A spotlight falls, making
you squint. You are now on the Gordon Show; I hope you don’t mind.
The first step is admitting that this is the
way you see the world. It’s the only way you can see the world, for you are
trapped in your brain and behind your eyes. And while you may come to believe
that you are not the center of everything, your gut doesn’t buy it.
So own that. Own up to it.
The second step is taking a serious look at the
people around you. As it turns out, each of them is the star of his or her own
show. On their shows, you are the bit player. Your name might not even make the
credits. It's true; they are all stars. From this point forward, dedicate
yourself to treating the people around you with the respect we normally reserve
for famous people. Maybe you should even get impressions of their footprints in
your sidewalk.
Now look at the animals, plants, rocks, and
trees. There are no cheap copies, no storefronts, no mountains painted on a
screen in the background. Every grain of sand took a million years to form.
Every animal species developed painfully and slowly over millions of years to
fit perfectly in its environment. Every leaf on every tree grew from a tender
bud and has a fragrance and a life all its own. Once you thought the earth was
here for your good pleasure, a stage upon which your life is played out. But
that’s not true. Our world is a beautiful and rare thing in itself. Why, there
might not be another like it in the entire Milky Way.
Yes, I see it in your eyes. You are beginning
to understand. It is the greatest of gifts to have been given life and allowed
to live amidst such beauty and in perfect step with others and with our
environment. Is it possible that a higher intelligence of some kind gave you
this gift? And if so, how should you respond? If you understand these things,
you have discovered Shalom, the deepest, richest, and most rare form of peace.
Quiet on the set. The spotlight is on you, and
I think you have a speaking part this time. Take a deep breath and speak
naturally, from the heart.
“Shalom.”
rlp
