Boredom USA - the cure

Walter Shapiro writes in his April 19 column about " a

    major social trend " - boredom . And April is the cruelest

    month . A man with Shapiro's inner resources is probably rarely

    bored himself while finding  the news media boring.

             The problem is a really an epidemic of spiritual

    emptiness. I see a connection between Shapiro 's column -

    " Our boredom comes as no surprise " - and the day's

    headline : " Feds crack down on ecstasy ".

            Like the media , young people are seeking SENSATION

    not MEANING . When a person is sensitive to the latter, life

    rarely bores him.

             Years ago I was very impressed by Viktor Frankl 's

    book - the product of his Nazi death camp experience - " Man's

    Search for Meaning " . He made the point that a man who has

    a WHY to live can endure almost any HOW .

             We are all brainwashed into thinking that HAPPINESS

    is a right.  I suspect that happiness is  NOT a sensation but

    a stable spiritual state that is a bonus for  living a useful

    meaningful life.

            Drugs like " ecstasy " are a diabolical lie. They

    just open wide the doors of Hell  - place where the damned

    suffer the " long dark night of the circumscribed I ".

           The etymology of " ecstasy " suggest a way out

    of boredom - get the hell out of yourself.

             The universe is NOT a boring place . And it even

    began with a bang !