Introduction: The following is PART FIVE in a six part serial. To read the first four installments, follow the links at the end of this story.

We left Quester last in the midst of a nihilistic breakdown, with him pleading for a purpose in his faith while drowning in the sea of meaninglessness. Qoheleth (AKA “Jim”) “smokes” him away to make one more visit …

~ ~ ~

“Excuse us, gentlemen,” says Jim, squeezing his way onto the seat at a table next to two men and motioning for me to sit across the table next to a third. We are at some donut/coffee shop, somewhere, some time. I am too distraught to care anymore.

“Introductions! Quester, here are three of the most prominent sociologists of all time. Meet C. Wright Mills . . . Max Weber . . . and, Karl Marx.” “

Marx?” I suddenly perk up. “I love A Night at the Opera!”

“Nope, sorry. No relation . . . though I have thought of keeping a horn in my coat!” replies Karl with a booming voice and a hearty laugh.

“Please continue with your conversation, gentlemen; we shan't stay long,” says Jim.

Karl describes history as a continuous cycle of oppositional forces pushing it along. He calls it the “class struggle” – the rulers, the haves, the snooty bourgeoisie are always sticking it to the masses, the have-nots, the lowly proletariat. Occasionally the have-nots successfully revolt against the haves, making them the new haves ruling over a new class of have-nots. The cycle starts anew; the class struggle continues.

I interject, “Sounds like classic Marxism.”

Karl slams his mug down on the table, spilling coffee everywhere. Leaning across the table towards me, he defiantly proclaims, “I AM NOT A MARXIST!”

The table is deadly silent. Karl takes a long, deep breathe, and composes himself. A sly grin forms on his face, and in a far quieter yet still excited voice, he adds “Except when it comes to Groucho, Chico and Harpo!” He bursts out into enthusiastic laughter.

Max smiles at Karl's joviality, and jumps in. “Karl, let's expand your view to include struggles over values, religion, and such.”

Karl pounds his pointer finger on the table at Max, insisting that all such conflicts are easily traceable back to economics. The third man, C. Wright, interrupts. He argues that all these things combine and produce power – sometimes values or religion exerts more influence, sometimes economics. “Power, my good friends, power is the infinite struggle driving history.”

As if on cue, Jim breaks into the conversation, thanks these mental giants for their time, and inhales deeply from his pipe. In a hazy flash we are back at his isolated corner booth.

“It's late, Quester. We had a great many adventures today and you need to rest.”

“But sir, I need answers; I need meaning . . .”

Jim jumps up from his seat, throws his bag of tobacco onto the floor, and pounces up and down on it.

“Gemeinschaft, gesellschaft, and anomie!” He was gone.

Seconds later he pops back, looking more disheveled and disoriented than Keith Richards on a bad day. Jim tucks his shirt back into his pants, runs his fingers through his hair, sits down, takes a big gulp of coffee, and lights his pipe.

“Sorry, Quester. I did warn you that I can be impatient.”

“Where did you go this time?”

“Helping Emile Durkheim study suicides among religious groups.” Jim scribbles a note to himself: get Emile some Prozac.

“Now, you go home and go to bed. I'll meet you again tomorrow and we'll talk about this quest of yours.”

He exhales his pipe smoke my way . . . and I awake the next morning in my bed.

Photo Credit

~ ~ ~

The Quester's Odyssey concludes next week with … Part VI – “The End of the Quest (or, What It's All About)” in which we learn the meaning of life, faith, and church, and enjoy some milk and pastries

Catch up on the first four installments here:

I – The Nature of the Quest

II – The Protestor in the Pub

III – Rioting for Jesus

IV – Thy Will (to Power) Be Done

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