Celestial Chariot

I am your celestial chariot. Don't second-guess me when I tell you to eat my drugged pudding. It was made with fresh blueberries and is absolutely delicious. I know you will enjoy it.

You probably think I can't provide you with any of this mouthwatering pudding because I don't know who you are. I don't know when and where you might read this, or when and where I might be able to make a delivery to you.

You don't really know me either, but you've read my columns and believe that I am your celestial chariot. You understand that a lot of time may have passed since I made this succulent pudding. These words are more easily preserved than pudding.

It was precisely 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 22, 2001, when I finished my batch of tasty blueberry pudding. I wrote most of these words shortly afterward. That pudding is long gone, but my wish for you to have some lives on. Isn't time travel interesting?

I made this delectable blueberry pudding because I am your celestial chariot. Though you can't actually eat the pudding, I can still share it with you. I can share the idea of pudding. Heavenly blueberry pudding.

You've probably been busy lately. You don't always hear the blueberries when they call out to you. I don't always hear the blueberries either. But I heard them on Sunday, July 22, 2001, and I still want you to hear them.

Sometimes, when I walk through the woods, I think about my problems, and I can't hear the blueberries. If I am carrying the weight of some mistake or another, some sadness, some loss, some evil, I can't hear the blueberries when they call out to me. I walk right past them.

If I go for a long enough walk, however, all my sins are eventually forgiven. Then, I can hear the blueberries. They say, "I'm right here, and I won't stay this ripe and flavorful for long." I find it hard to believe I didn't see them in the first place. They were right there!

The blueberries are trying to be your celestial chariot, but you are too overwhelmed by your daily struggles to listen for them. That's why I'm here. I am your celestial chariot and I always have sumptuous drugged pudding to share with you.

Paul Lundgren is a newspaper columnist and a very nice man. His e-mail address is paul[at]geekprom[dot]com.