How often I have said, "I don't know which end is up."

I am fifty-six years old and only today did it occur to me that nobody knows which end is up. This should be obvious to anybody who knows the facts.

FACT ONE We live on a big round ball spinning in space.

FACT TWO The ball we live on is circling the Sun.

FACT THREE The Sun is circling another point in our galaxy, which is circling yet another point far away.

Circles upon circles upon circles, going nowhere. How can I know which way is up? How can I know where I stand? I cannot. Nobody knows.
Convinced of my hopeless situation, I have decided to relax, take it easy, let go of my need to know. I now realize that I do not need to know which way is up because something we call "gravity" has always been present to give me the answer, without doubt, just for me. No analysis is required. I am seldom confused about the issue even though I am convinced that I can never know which way is up. Nobody knows.

What a good, dependable friend is gravity. How does gravity work, I wonder? It's a mystery. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. No body knows. The attraction of one body for another body is understood by...no body at all...of course! So, who is this NOBODY?

Jonathon Smith
December 19, 1999