For the three years that Eve and I dated, we agreed happily on just about everything. Eve got me, and I got her. When I said something which I knew to be true, I could always depend on Eve to feel this truth. And when Eve disagreed, she struggled with me. She questioned me earnestly until we found something that we believed in common.
Eve and I shared many discoveries, some of which even hinted at the truth we both sought so tirelessly. Today, however, I’d like to share with you one of our disagreements.
Eve and I had different conceptions of excitement. As you gathered from others’ colorful examples, excitement for Eve entailed things like dancing, traveling and throngs of new faces. For me, on the other hand, it entailed thinking, reading and familiar company.
I would be the second to admit that my idea of excitement was the more boring of the two. Eve, of course, was always the first. But since I desired nothing more than for Eve to be happy with me, I would nearly beg her to ask me to love to dance, for her sake; to love to travel, for her sake; to love big parties, for her sake. But she wouldn’t.
Eve didn’t want me to believe anything for her sake. She wanted me to choose to believe it. She wanted me to believe it for the truth’s sake. She wanted me to believe it because it was right.
I fell all the more in love with Eve because of the nobility of her resolve, but I must also admit that this resolve could be quite infuriating. I mean, all I was asking for was a compelling analysis of why dance parties were more exciting than contemplation.
But Eve wouldn’t budge. My frustration would reach a boiling point when I asked Eve explicitly for explanations: She would reply with a smug, playful shrug of her shoulders and proceed to allude to dozens of “secret essays” which contained the very information that I sought.
I know that Eve was not bluffing about these essays. Somewhere, there remains a hidden treasure chest which contains Eve’s advice and criticisms regarding everything from my choice of ice cream flavor to my choice of career.
For my graduation present, Eve shared with me a part of one of her secret essays. The topic was adventure. Here are some of Eve’s words: “Sharing and provoking and exploring — that’s adventure to me, Tim. Adventure is finding oneness, finding community, even in unlikely circumstances. Adventure is encountering connections which link us and hopefully bring me closer to what I’m searching for: universal truth, eternal goodness, faith. Adventure is love of others — because I believe that everyone has something to teach. Tim, it is so exciting to find expressions of truth from philosophers and in books. How incredible it also is to see these ideas hinted at in others, in the world.”
