US Person learned of a Zen story over the holidays that bears repeating for my readers' edification:Grasshopper: Master, a wise man once said that life is as the water that falls over the cliff. How is this so?
Teacher: The wise man of whom you speak was truly wise, Grasshopper. The river is one until it meets the sky at the precipice. There, it becomes 10,000 droplets that enter into the void. At the end of the droplets' journey, they become one again, and the river of life is forever recreated.