He offered to abandon all hope, he offered to be a network executive, he offered to live in fear, he offered to catch the next hope, the next wave, the next rail out of town. He offered to charm the pants right off her, he offered to pour her a glass, he offered to free the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, he offered to father her children, he offered to pant like a dog. He offered to grow up in New Jersey, he offered to tell a joke, he offered to turn off his stop watch, he offered to beat the eggs until they were frozen in stiff white peaks, he offered to slap the rosy red checks of the children, he offered to step up to the plate, he offered to close the window, he offered to shut the place down for good.

He offered to improved his batting average, he offered to take up smoking crack and shooting heroin, he offered to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, he offered to be, to bee and not to be. He offered to leap giant buildings in a single bound, and he turned around and offered to do it again. He offered to love her forever and he offered to forget the matter entirely.

He offered her a six pack and when it was refused he drank it himself imagining himself to be a vampire drinking her blood instead. He offered to publish it on the Web and the New York Times. He offered to promote silky lace stockings and fine underwear for men. He made so many offers that it was not possible to record all of them in the Akashic Record being read aloud by avatars this very second in heaven.

But of all the offers he made; offering to play the piano, milk a goat, build an airplane, buy New York City, cause rain to fall in the Sahara for 1000 years; none was as fine as his final offer which I hope mankind will take him up on. He made many offers of great and profound significance - he offered to end world hunger and he offered to establish world peace. Many and simple were his offers and how could anyone know which of these were the most profound or efficacious?

He offered to return from the dead, he offered to cast doubt, he offered to sow one mustard seed, he offered to throw his voice, he offered to throw his voice away.

April 19, 2001