Cure For The Blahs

In a little book about children and religion, actor Dick Van Dyke tells the story of a little girl who is asked by her mother if she had said her night prayers. “Yes, mother,” she replies, “but when I got down on my knees I began thinking that God hears the same old stuff every night … So I told him the story of the three bears instead.” Van Dyke tells of another little girl who was asked to suggest a prayer for her Sunday School class. She said, “I think we should pray for all the people with the blahs!”

In the “Peanuts” comic strips, Charlie Brown’s dog, Snoopy, occasionally becomes rather philosophical. In one scenario, Snoopy is stretched out on the ground in what appears to be a state of deep meditation. Then Charlie Brown and Linus come walking by. Snoopy looks up at them and asks himself, “I wonder why some of us were born dogs while others were born people?…