* * *
"What part of fear of self comes in here?" asked Friend.
"You can't fear the part of you that wants to play with others, true play - not cat and mouse."
"I don't know how to do that."
"I noticed," Director said with a contagious smile.
"I'm afraid my play will seem disrespectful."
"You have to get good with the part of you that wants to be disrespectful, friend."
"But then I'm no longer polite."
"No. You can be polite and disrespectful at the same time. We're talking about not bowing to false virtue, to vanity. You will, of course, respect that which you feel deserves to be respected."
"How will I know the difference?"
"I believe you know already. But as you stop fearing this part of yourself you'll become more sure."
"What else do I fear about myself?"
"The part that envies others their security in their opinions."
"But why would he envy opinion when he knows it's mere opinion, belief, and not knowledge?" asked Student.
"Because he knows enough to know the gray areas between opinion, knowledge, and belief. At times he wishes he didn't know those gray areas quite so well. Yes?" asked Director.
"Yes," said Friend. "I do envy them their ignorance."
"Their innocence?"
"That, too."
"You are afraid of your own lack of innocence."
"But I am innocent!"
"In sense, you are - yes. But in another sense you are quite knowing, as it were."
"How can I reconcile these senses?"
"Irony is the only way, my friend. But this you already know. So now just take the time to understand."
"But my irony will not be 'habitual'. It will be deliberate."
"Of course."
THE END
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Nick Pappas, pappasnick.typepad.com
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