Even Atheists Can See The Sublimje

     I am, for all intents and purposes, a comic book nerd. My three favorite Super Heroes are Superman, Batman, and Captain America.
     I am also an atheist. HARDCORE! I do not believe in God, goblins, ghosts, ghouls, past lives, the possibility of aliens having visited our shores. I also do not believe in the actual existence of King Arthur (although I DO love the storeies). But I do believe in symbols and stories, and their possibility to inspire!
     I own a Batman ring (which I NEVER take off my finger). I crave a Superman ring which will likely enjoy the same privilege. There is nothing equally iconic about Captain America (except his shield, which I wouldn't mind hanging on my wall). But I figure the combination of  Superman and Batman equals Captain America..  It's the amalgamation  of individual achievement, in the service of something more.
     And although I may be an atheist, there are SOME things I consider holy. One, is a symbol: the Superman "S". It says to me, that ANYTHING is possible. And that "anything" can serve the common good.
     The other is a theatre. An actual theatre, or any space in which I am booked to perform. If it is an "empty space", it is a space where you are enjoined to create magic. If it is an established theatre, it is a space where magic has occurred before.
     Whenever I step into a theatre as an audience or an actor, I feels a sense of history enjoining me to approach its borders with an open mind.
     Whenever I am booked in a park, or a warehouse, or a restaurant, or an unexplored open space, I am struck with the feeling that the magic begins with me.
     So the "S" may stand for Stanivlosky, or it may stand for the super me. But it reminds me that there is more to this world, than my narrow view of it. And it's up to me to discover what that is.
     And THAT'S why I love comic books! And THAT'S why I have a reverence for something greater than this world or my place in it. Because in order to get to the next stage of evolution, you must find something greater than yourself to serve.
     It can be and "S", it can be the footlights in the proscenium, it can be the refrigerator in your apartment; "May the force be with you." As long as it makes you think, "you are not alone", and you have an obligation to your fellow man.
     I may be an atheist, but I believe in totems. And I believe there are more things in this world Horatio, than are yet dreamed by man. And that it's our obligation to seek those dreams out.