Before the Enlightenment, before scientific method, people thought everything in existence was tied to fate, gods, and Olympian caprice. Throughout history life has been like a game of “she loves me, she loves me not” and there’s not much to add about this except to say Newton saved us from many a plucking and sensible people should be grateful. Kurt Vonnegut once said something to the effect, “I’m gad I don’t have to spend time thiinking up what to give God anymore”—to which he added: “what do you give someone who already has everything?”
I think Vonnegut knew the answer. You give God your despair. This is after all what plucking petals is all about. When someone falls in love, its the work of Cupid. When we fall out of love, well, what then? Did God steer you badly? Did God hate your wedding dress? Does God hate honeymoons in Paris? Falling out of love should be Newtonian but its always marked “return to sender, on high”. Atheists like Christopher HItchens always say religion belongs to the infancy of the race—but really, its all about broken hearts.
Please don’t fall out of love. I urge against it. But if you have to fall out of love today. Please don’t resort to superstition.
Planet of the Blind 