He was so calm. It is as if nothing could phase him. Everyone else was so animated and "making their point". I called him the witness. Sometimes I called him the observer. After all the mud had been stirred up by everyone else, he would let the mud settle, clarity would reveal itself and he would make a non-judgemental observation. Usually with a smile. Not a sneer. Not a mocking laugh. Not a gotcha tone. Just a gentle smile. As if to say, can we all see better now. Has everyone stirred it up enough.
People of good intentions can do that.
People who can see beyond their nose can do that.
People who know it all ends anyway and …maybe…just …maybe…the goal is to be fair and honest and decent and true..can do that.
Can you let the mud settle or are you a stirrer.
Who are you trying to convince anyway.
At the end, when friends gather to comment on a life lived which column will you be in.
Frantic trying to make a point about something everyone else already moved past or calmly pointing toward to path out of the jungle of arguments.
In the end, he got a standing ovation. I have to believe, some how, some way, he knew.
An ageless experiment.