Here is a heartbreaking — and, sadly, true — story of a man who was too much in tune with nature to be left alone and allowed to be happy. From First Things:
At any rate, the thing I want chiefly to emphasize about Reuben is that he was a remarkably happy man: harmless, kind, and always in good spirits. In fact, I do not think I have ever known anyone else who took such evident delight in the world. He told me he had felt himself surrounded at all times by friends, human and otherwise: A walk in the country for him was a visit to the companions of his childhood. He spoke of “creation” (he rarely used the word “nature,” it seems to me) as an essentially “amiable” reality if one approaches it correctly. He may have been one of the few truly happy souls I have known in my life.
Reuben’s fate reminds me of this little story.
Appallingly, the entire blogging community seems to have been infected today 🙂
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Sad state of affairs there, Mike. Hope things don’t ever come to that. Typical quick fixes with therapy and meds as well. The story was riveting – I loved everything about it!
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Nurse Kelly,
Thank you.
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You are most welcome, Mike! BTW, as I’m sure you figured out, my comment was on the second story, which was incredible once again! 🙂
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You mean Snake Heart? I appreciate that.
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Yes!
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Mike this really hurt. A harmless man, and apparently beautiful human being, was apparently destroyed by, modern medicine. Appalling doesn’t seem to adequately express my feeling about the way his life was cut short.
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In My Cluttered Attic,
That’s the way it hit me. Funny, isn’t it, in an age when everyone is supposed to be an “individual,” that so many institutions demand conformity?
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