Forgetfulness or Life?

As is my wont, I spend part of each morning working the word puzzles in the newspaper. My father worked the crossword puzzle every day. He also kept a dictionary by his chair to check out new words. He was a master of the dictionary, and would challenge people to give him a word to test his knowledge of the meaning, but that's a whole other story. I suppose I inherited his love of words, because word puzzles fascinate me.

Yesterday, I came across a word that I didn't know. At least I have forgotten if I ever knew it. The word was Lethe, and the definition was "River of Forgetfulness." Because of the cross-words, I got the answer right before I looked up the word in the dictionary.

The word "Lethe" is the name of a river in the underworld that is ruled by the god Hades, according to Greek mythology. It is one of five rivers, each of which has a special significance in the world of the dead. It is said that the dead had to take a drink from the river Lethe so that they would forget everything from their past life.

The English words "lethargy" and "lethal" both are indirect derivatives of the Greek word lethe. It is not hard to see a relationship. In one case we have sort of a death-like state, and in the other death itself.

Do you think it is possible that the headwaters of the river Lethe actually exist in the real world. We all have experienced the frustration of forgetfulness. Perhaps we have dipped our fingers in the river and licked them off. The sad thing is that there are so many today who have taken a deep draught of that water and have forgotten most, if not all, of their past life.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find an antidote for the waters from the River of Forgetfulness? There are possibilities awaiting in the source of life itself. Stem cell research may not hold the answer, but we will never know without trying. Isn't it sad that a minority, who reject the truths of science, prevent that research from going forward? The church of the middle ages is alive and well in Fundamentalism. Let us rise up and throw off the yoke that prevents our return to the Garden of Eden, watered by the River of Life.