Salvation by Metaphor

Some people believe that Elvis is still living. Sightings are frequent. Many people believe that they have personally encountered aliens from outer space. Ask if anyone has seen an angel lately, and you will get many responses, most of them quite sincere. Ask a skeptic to debunk these accounts, and he or she will get equally imaginative. Most of us go through life without seeing Elvis, avoiding alien contact, and not, to our knowledge, encountering any angels. I suppose that someday contact will be made with alien beings, its just doesn't appear to have happened just yet. For all we know the world is full of angels. My dog appears to have some angelic qualities. He loves almost everybody he meets. He balks only at large black dogs. He might have had a bad experience in the past with one of them. Notwithstanding all of the above, most of us live very ordinary lives, free of exotic experiences. Should that discourage us. I think not. We can use our minds and find metaphors for just about anything. Some of the creatures that are found in the deep ocean could easily pass for aliens. All of us have met beautiful people who have gone out of their way to help us. A conductor on a train I was riding on solved a seat mixup by placing me next to a beautiful young lady my own age. As for Elvis, we all miss him. Persumably, if there is an hereafter we will get a chance to hear him sing again. Metaphor is not a weak substitute for exciting beliefs. It is probably better than any of them. Happy dreaming. It makes life worthwhile.