Looking for proof?

You'd be hard pressed to find someone to disagree. A human being is likely the most amazing arrangement of molecules ever devised. Quite the impressive bit of engineering we are. Atoms nestled comfortably in the hearts of stars get blown violently across the cosmos, only to reassemble after billions of years in the shape of Anson Williams. Well, maybe Potsie isn't the best example, but you get the idea. That we're here at all is damn amazing from a strictly mechanical point of view.

As awe-inspiring as this is, could it mean that each of us owes our existence to nothing more than a short-term lease on our particular set of molecules? When life ends, are we doomed to simply fade to black, dispersing our atoms back into the great cosmic recycling bin? Does a human lifetime boil down to an organic chemistry experiment that runs for about 80 years?

A bleak outlook? Sure is. This is real whats-the-point-of-all-of-this kind of shit.

Well, before you go writing goodbye letters and rifling through the medicine cabinet, I ask you to direct your attention to this picture of Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour hoisting the Stanley Cup last night. Look at him - look at the euphoria. The man in the picture has just realized the dream of every kid to ever pick up a hockey stick - a dream chased as a child, through his teenage years, and through a punishing 17 year professional career. The man in the picture has just paid off a lifetime of emotional debts to every coach, every teammate, every friend and family member that supported him and accompanied him on his long quest. They're all there with him, sharing in the absolute joy of the moment. This is the face of the last team standing after the bone-crushing, tooth-shattering, 20-stitches-to-the-forehead two month war that is the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Look again at the picture. You won't find a trace of money or contracts or endorsements or agents or big houses or fancy cars or any of the trappings of life as a professional athlete. Thats a picture of nothing but the release of pure, raw, powerful emotion. If you're a hockey fan, and maybe even if you're not, I dare you to look at that picture and not smile.

Its amazing. Its beautiful. The dreams, the goals, the drive to compete at the highest level, the will to win, the endurance, the sacrifice, its all there in living color. The most touching part is the very real connection between the man in the picture and anyone, near or far, living or dead, that ever imagined lifting The Cup over head at center ice. If you shared the moment in person, via television, or on the radio - you felt it. I know I did.

When we look at our picture of Rod Brind'Amour and that 35-pound pile of silver, are we looking at neurological ones and zeros? Are we seeing organic chemistry at its finest? Is this a picture of nothing more than a fortuitous arrangement of atoms that just happened to create a human being? Not a chance. Well, the physical stuff is most definitely there, but that's not all.

That's a picture of a soul. What you're looking at is photographic evidence of the gift bestowed upon us by whatever higher power put this whole crazy thing in motion. One day his physical incarnation will fail, but rest assured that the Universe has much more in store for Mr. Brind'Amour and for all of us. The proof is in the picture.

The proof is also all around us every day. If you pay close enough attention, you'll see it. Actually, you'll feel it.

Let me take this opportunity to thank the Universe for everything. Nice job.