AN EQUATION Our minds are formed for a place where no one is stricken, where there is general agreement on God, and where no one is to blame. We see as if from a distance what must be borne in this alternate world we live in: the drama of birth, the tragedy of death, a few average days in between. The mystery and the misunderstanding both come from the average days. "I thought if he could see my pain, we could recognize each other's humanity." A wise thought: humanity equals pain. My pain makes me look human to him, and his ability to see another's pain without being able to do anything about it, perhaps not even to imagine wanting to do anything about it, makes him seem human to me. Humanity equals pain.