Have you seen "Mission Impossible"?  I do not normally take in action movies, but was recently persuaded to see this one.  it didn't disappoint.  Action, action, and more action.  And much intrigue.

     As I watched, as I watched the machinations of the various espionage agencies vying for power, I thought about how, in the big picture, trivial all this is.  To date, the "Mission Impossible" movies have earned over three billion worldwide (and, in total, have cost around 800 million to make).  They've made many people wealthy; they're given countless moviegoers many thrills.
     But in a year, this latest installment will be forgotten, its thrills and the creativity that went into designing them shoved under the next wave of action films.  Not that it was not a good movie, just that it is so ephemeral.
     In his Idea of the University, John Henry Newman discusses the need to set all heart and knowledge into an holistic framework, to weave it into a tapestry bigger than it is.  A transcendent tapestry in which it can find genuine meaning.  Only then will it last.
     Existentialism is only as good as the certainty of the next thrill.  And in a world voided of transcendence, even that is not certain.  How do we know to define it?
     Have a great day.