"Smile. It's the Law."

That is what the man whom I pass on the way to work each morning, who sits on the corner, cradled in the monumental lap of the church, has written on his cardboard sign.

I kind of imagine him as someone who is actually highly educated but just couldn't quite fit with the mainstream. Maybe he found himself in this situation and just decided to make the best of it. Or perhaps he chose this path; perhaps he has found something more than the rest of us have found. It is a bit of an outrageous idea, it is true, but he certainly has an impact... at least in this small corner of the world. A modern sage, of sorts. Maybe he has had the mysteries of the universe unfolded to him, and what it comes down to is smiling at those who pass by, spreading a little joy to the world. And we humbly ask him to tell us the secret to life and he just points to that sign. "Smile. It's the law." Because maybe that is THE law: if we share joy, we receive it as well.

Orrr... he could just be a crazy old bum.


I kind of would prefer not to know either way.