Upon returning to the lovely gateway of the Beliefnet Community today, I spotted a question asked by one of my neighbors: “Is it a mid-life crisis?” he wondered.

He made me wonder, too: When’s mid-life? I mean, if we are spiritual creatures, made in the image of God, if there is no beginning or end to us, where is that point that we can designate as the “middle” of our lifetime?

Now that I’ve become aware of what a theater Earth is–and have become totally convinced of its departure from reality–the word “life” hits my eyes and ears differently. Words such as “life-saving” and “life-threatening”, and yes, “mid-life” are curious to me. In fact, one of the questions in the Drama Queen Workshop “reality check” exercise is: It’s possible for medical professionals to save a life. True or False?

The answer, at least in that venue, is “false”. You can save a body, but you can’t save a life. We’ve confused the two, with obvious and frightening results.

We’ve been taught that reality is only what we can see: the slow moving molecules that constitute physical life. We’ve been taught that we have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Consequently, we tend to be fearful and defensive. We’re spooked more easily. After all, there’s so much to lose; no one is guaranteed tomorrow. Gotta get it now, gotta keep it, gotta keep others from trying to take it. Control whatever and whomever you can in this finite world.

What if Paul was correct when he told the Corinthians in his second letter: “What is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal?” Is reality temporary or eternal?

Wouldn’t it be great in 2008, if we could more consistently “keep it real?” Who knows? Maybe the Loud Mouth wouldn’t feel so compelled to rant!