Bit by Bit - Chapter 3, Part 1

Trey Smith

Your life has a limit, but knowledge has none.
~ Burton Watson translation ~

I can remember as a child being captivated by fireflies (also called lightening bugs). They seemed to fill the air in summer where I lived in the Midwest. They would flit to and fro -- the essence of freedom.

Like a lot of kids, I wanted to catch a few so I could marvel at them at my leisure. The snare was a glass jar and, being the humane folks we thought we were, holes were poked into the metal lid so the fireflies wouldn't suffocate. And so my friends and I would catch several fireflies in jars.

But a funny thing happened to our captured prey. They'd flit around in our jars for a short period of time -- flashing their "lights" -- and then nothing. No flying. No lighting. Nada.

It was my first lesson in the folly of trying to constrain the unconstrainable. By placing limits on the fireflies, I killed them.

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