A MYSTERY

A Mystery

Fedyukov.

Thirteen years in a row.

His name keeps showing up but no one knows who he is or have ever seen him.

Is he a ghost? The devil? An angel?

Okay, you're Navagin, a high ranking official. This is obviously bothering you. You've had thirteen years to figure out this mystery and you've had no luck.

How about getting an actual list of every person who visited that day and asking them if they know who Fedyukov is?

"You came to visit me -- are you Fedyukov? Did you sign your name as Fedyukov? Do you know Fedyukov?"

Or how about one year you stay and watch as everyone signs their name?

There has to be a better way to figure out this mystery than to plunge into séances.

But alas I am being too logical. The point is we are all vulnerable to superstition -- to easy answers. Why think logically and rationally when you can have all you want by just believing in spirits? When you lock truth and science and logic and reasoning in the closet -- the whole world is yours. You can fashion it the way you want it.

Miracles? Definitely. 

Navagin gets seduced by spiritualism -- and when you go down that road it's easy to get sucked in-- after all, who wouldn't want to have a little quality time with Napoleon? ("Okay, Mr. B, Russia is big and cold -- did you really think . . . and what's the deal with the hand in the pocket?")
 
Or to have a heart-to-heart chat with a deceased relative?

Who really wants to think the end is really the end?

An off switch and everything goes blank.

That's cruel.

Who doesn't want to encounter a situation where the mystery almost proves there is something beyond -- something offering hope and the possibility of eternal life?

Logic or eternal life? Is that much of choice?

So those who practice reason and logic and common sense and eschew superstition have a rough journey.

Somewhere in the psyche lurks a Navagin -- yearning for a sign -- for a trace of something beyond what science offers.

Frankly,  Science doesn't give a damn. It won't change.

Some will be faithful to its factual charms to the bitter end -- but many will cheat.

Will they feel dirty in the morning or just happy?