Which is why I wrote this little scene of two boys on a summer afternoon.
And why I wrote all the other stories in this book, too.
Jim Gardner
Kitchener, Ontario
July 29, 2004
Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large
TELEOLOGY [teli-oloji] n doctrine or belief that all things or actions are designed to achieve some end.
I told my kid sister Muffin this joke.
There was this orchestra, and they were playing music, and all the violins were bowing and moving their fingers, except for this one guy who just played the same note over and over again. Someone asked the guy why he wasn't playing like the others and he said, "They're all looking for the note. I've found it."
Muffin, who's only six, told me the joke wasn't funny if you understood teleology.
I never know where she gets words like that. I had to go look it up.
"Okay," I said when I found her again, "now I understand teleology. Why isn't the joke funny?"
"You'll find out next week," she said.
I talked to Uncle Dave that night. He's in university and real smart, even though he's going to be a minister instead of something interesting. "What's so great about teleology?" I said. He looked at me kind of weird, so I explained, "Muffin's been talking about it."
"So have my professors," he said. "It's, uhh, you know, God has a purpose for everything, even if we can't understand it. We're all heading toward some goal."
"We took that in Sunday school," I said.
"Well, Jamie, we go into it in a bit more detail."