Beep - beep - beep- beep - beep... Beep - BEEP!

 

Come on, admit it. You fell for this and then smiled after you said it.

In our world today with Covid-19 having taken so many and threatening every one of us, our divided country of Trumpers and Bidenites, global warming largely untended and millions of hungry, what have we got to smile about?

Well, everything really! If we haven't yet learned that a smile, a laugh or light-heartedness of any kind has a sanctifying place in creating a coping mentality and staying sane, then we are doomed. The human spirit will always be there, deep down, even as it strays far from the surface many times. We can't laugh when we cry, but we can and do survive long-term because that's just what we do.

Tip from my daughter--the same one who urged me to loudly say "Marco!" in a supermarket aisle and listen for someone within hearing distance to return "Polo!"-- try honking when sitting in your car in a parking deck and wait for a return. My record is two out of five tries... and a couple of odd looks.

When times are dark we often have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and look for a stress buster. Life always has its ups and downs. The ups when we are happy, the downs to tell the difference.

I had a friend who was bipolar. When he was down, he was really down. But when he was up, he was almost euphoric. He told me that he had found peace with medication but it came with a cost. The medication "leveled him out," in his words. He never dipped so low that he had dire thoughts... but he also never reached the joy of living he sought. "Life for me, " he said, "was one even path down the middle without notable highs or lows... and it sucked in its own way."

So I looked for some sage advice on life and found it in a most unusual place. Monty Python had a brilliant movie that told it all. 

If you were born later, you may never have known the Monty Python experience. The Pythons, as they referred to themselves, had an almost 'cult-like' following until they all started dying, damn-it. They first shared their incredible sketch comedy on Britain's BBC in 1969 and hit the big screen 10 years later with award-winning Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Then there was Life of Brian followed by The Meaning of Life. 

Blogger's Hint: if you haven't seen any of these, you haven't yet lived. I loved them all but perhaps The Meaning of Life was my fave. They were absurd and they were great.

The Meaning of Life consists of five different brief stories including the lead story's feature song, "Every Sperm is Sacred." And if that doesn't give you a hint, then you wouldn't go very far on "Jeopardy." (Note: I've got this song and that whole story on an earlier blog post here.)

This blog post is about balancing our stress-filled lives with a dash of perspective, done lightly as an example. So here are the lyrics to Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," written by Python member Eric Idle, to cheer you up... or not:

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Some things in life are bad

They can really make you mad

Other things just make you swear and curse

When you're chewing on life's gristle

Don't grumble, give a whistle

And this'll help things turn out for the best

And always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the light side of life

If life seems jolly rotten

There's something you've forgotten

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing

When you're feeling in the dumps

Don't be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing

And always look on the bright side of life

(Come on)

Always look on the right side of life

For life is quite absurd

And death's the final word

You must always face the curtain with a bow

Forget about your sin

Give the audience a grin

Enjoy it, it's your last chance anyhow

So always look on the bright side of death

Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of shit

When you look at it

Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true

You'll see it's all a show

Keep 'em laughin' as you go

Just remember that the last laugh is on you

And Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the right side of life

(C'mon Brian, cheer up)

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the bright side of life

I mean, what have you got to lose?

You know, you come from nothing

You're going back to nothing

What have you lost? Nothing

Always look on the right side of life

Nothing will come from nothing, ya know what they say

Cheer up ya old bugga c'mon give us a grin (Always look on the right side of life)

There ya are, see

It's the end of the film

Incidentally this record's available in the foyer (Always look on the right side of life)

Some of us got to live as well, you know

(Always look on the right side of life)

Who do you think pays for all this rubbish

(Always look on the right side of life)

They're not gonna make their money back, you know

I told them, I said to him, Bernie, I said they'll never make their money back

(Always look on the right side of life)

Want to see Eric Idle sing  it while hanging on a cross like a thief, not like You Know Who. 

And yes,  kinda funny. It caps the final story and is really not sacrilegious... much. Ya gotta see it. 

(Available on Amazon plus, Showtime and Netflix)

In today's coronavirus world, what is a life really worth? I think Monty Python answers that question better than anything I have ever heard.

So if you are too young (and shame on you) Monty Python may be something entirely unknown in your brief--anything less than maybe 55 years--life so far.

Since age now matters as to who gets the ventilator and who doesn't, the value of a human life is being quantified.

Here then is the ultimate determiner that any true Catholic will swear to. This explains why every life is of incredible value and one is no greater or less than any other.

Background: Monty Python was a British comedy legend most popular from 1969 through 1983... a cast of irreverent actors that was sometimes raw but typically funny in the way life sometimes is.  Their comedy is parody with a touch of satire thrown in so be ready or stop reading. (I know God has a sense of humor because just look around you every day. See?)

The group first showcased its zany take on humor in the British television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus and from there, made three largely popular movies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. (If you have no idea, then you must see at least one which will lead to wanting to see them all.) It was The Meaning of Life that featured in one of its segments, the song  "Every Sperm is Sacred." The movie received The British Academy of Film and Television award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 1988.

"Aha!" you say. "So that's your proof?" Would the Pope lie? As one born Catholic (though have moved on), of course. And to get the gist, here are the lyrics. If they intrigue you, you MUST see one of the best musical clips ever which I've saved for you at the end of this post... after I've made my case.

Every Sperm Is Sacred

Monty Python

There are Jews in the world

There are Buddhists

There are Hindus and Mormons, and then

There are those that follow Mohammed, but

I've never been one of them

I'm a Roman Catholic,

And have been since before I was born,

And the one thing they say about Catholics is:

They'll take you as soon as you're warm

You don't have to be a six-footer

You don't have to have a great brain

You don't have to have any clothes on You're

A Catholic the moment Dad came,

Because

Every sperm is sacred

Every sperm is great

If a sperm is wasted,

God gets quite irate

Every sperm is sacred

Every sperm is great

If a sperm is wasted,

God gets quite irate

Let the heathen spill theirs

On the dusty ground

God shall make them pay for

Each sperm that can't be found

Every sperm is wanted

Every sperm is… 

Source: LyricFind

Now here's the point: Because we, the greatest, richest, smartest, best, etc. country in the world did not prepare for any pandemic (which we were assured by all those who know pandemics, that it/they will continue to happen) we were caught short... and worse, we didn't believe, for at least a month, that what was happening in China might, would, could be our problem... the world's problem.

Now we absolutely know we are perilously unprepared, low in both safety equipment for our heroes on the front lines tests (becaus we had to test,  test, test but had none) and ventilators to save those who would/will die of the disease if they are not available when needed... and we have been assured, they will not be available when needed.

This means that those in triage will have to make decisions on who will likely die and those which are more likely to survive. Our government put us in this position. Thanks a lot. May God be on triage shoulders as decisions are made. (Disclosure: If I am in that position as a patient, tell all my wife, children and grandchildren that I love them more than than I could ever express as a mere human... and that I have lived a wonderful life of joy and happiness with my loved and the world.) 

Note to self: Be sure to save that disclosure if this scenario proves false.

With unnecessary death facing many, there has been a public relations effort to monetize the value of a human life as one justification for who lives and who dies. Obviously age is a primary determiner in making a life or death decision but dollars of value of a human significantly cheapens the process. That's why it is imperative to recognize that every life is worthy and, as most believe, every sperm is sacred. Life is too precious to be a dollar value add-on by others.

And by the way, I believe age is a probable determiner in many situations where significant differences are a factor. Close calls, I can't imagine. 

It would be hypocritical to believe that if life is sacred in its beginning but expendable at its end without strongly supporting Roe vs. Wade, no matter what your personal belief. To think otherwise would cede de facto control of both life and death to the government. And this in a country that largely does not believe everyone deserves health care. Now that is hypocritical.

OK, that was fun. Now, as promised, I think you will enjoy this "Every Sperm is Sacred" clip from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life... and don't say you weren't cautioned.

The Red Velvet Rope of life

I was 16 pages deep with more to go in my Google search for red velvet ropes. Most were listings to purchase or rent red velvet ropes for crowd control but a number of sites were for red velvet clubs... you know, the exclusive ones not meant for regular people. Red velvet ropes are mostly used to keep the riff-raff out and let the elite pass through.

WW with her invisible plane

But even if there are no red velvet ropes beyond nightclubs or the Oscars and the like, they exist metaphorically in almost every phase of our lives, invisible like Wonder Woman's plane (see invisible plane, left) or her lasso, but they are there.

My thought was triggered by Nelson Schwartz who has a book soon to debut on who and how we separate the elite of the world from us less special other folks. Our every day lives are filled with red velvet ropes of one kind or another. Most are so prevalent that we just accept them as a normal part of not being either elite or rich.

The medical field has many red velvet ropes. These on the inside do not sit in emergency rooms or doctors' offices til 3:30 waiting for their 2 pm appointment. Often, their doctors are on call and come to them.  Those inside the rope deliver their babies in $6,000/day hospital suites attended by cream of the crop medical care, often referred as high-end boutique health services. We sometimes deliver in the back seat of a cab. Their broken bones are not diagnosed in emergency rooms and set by the surgeon with an opening in her schedule. Treatment options? Not hardly.

In our justice system, most pretrial detainees remain in jail waiting trial because they can't afford bail at arraignment, and many must use overwhelmed court appointed council. Not surprisingly, this often means disproportionately delivered justice... something on the order of the Golden State Warriors playing a high school basketball team. It also leads sadly to the innocent being convicted for crimes they never committed. And those on the other side of the rope, being acquitted for crimes they did commit. Hey, it happens.

Who stands in long lines for rides at Disney World or doesn't swim with dolphins at Sea World? Who has little hope snagging a pair of tickets to Hamilton when it's the talk of the town? Care to jump airport lines? Too bad. Go to college at today's prices? The odds are not great for many on the wrong side of the red velvet rope.

Life's like that though and many of us are so used to our status that we accept the rope as a way of life. But to those who can't afford the opportunity, it's another way entirely.

Funny thing is, some of the privileged confess they actually experience a tinge of guilt when they glance across the red velvet rope.  There is nothing wrong about earning honest money. It's just that so many are critically behind those opportunity lines for any number of reasons. It might even be a matter of life or death for them.

Oh, there are exceptions of course. Remember the crucifixion scene in Monty Python's classic film, The Life of Brian? Those poorly born actually had the option to choose which side of the red velvet rope for them: "Crucifixion or freedom?" But given the choice, they messed it up. See what I mean?

 

 So a big thank you to the Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and all those with a philanthropic mentality who try to help those in great need. But the need overwhelms us all.