39 ACROSS

JEFFREY HILDNER

Metropolis blues pulled me down. Lots to do, things on my mind, got to go here and got to go there. But I took a time out. I ducked into a small cafe on the corner of Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side and got a cup of hot tea. I looked out the window and watched lights glisten like paint on wet pavement as taxis streaked by. I admired the odd synergy of people, cars, and buildings. Ah, Manhattan—a 3-D grid of stillness and motion, at once simple and complex, full of mystery. I opened the Arts section of The New York Times and penned in answers to the day's crossword puzzle. I stopped on "39 Across": Five-letter word for "One of 150." Nice. I'd solved that one before: PSALM. Which made me think of one of my favorites, Psalm 23,verse three: "He restoreth my soul." He? It could just as well be She: God!—the divine Soul or Mind who fills us with nonstop confidence, clarity, and calm. And before I even realized why, no more blues.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

REMOVING THE BARRIERS TO CREATIVITY