Eat, Age, Rage

I’m in Athens now, reporting a story about shipping, and I’m buying a bottle of water at a coffee stand on my way to the airport. 

What my dad calls petrodolatry—the worship of stones—is everywhere in the ancient city. In the agora a guide showed me the stony spot where Socrates harangued shoppers about consumerism and the stony spot where he said, justifying his existence, “I speak as a gadfly.” 

He spoke to keep us on our toes, to keep us honest. 

If Christ suffered for us, we might say Socrates was insufferable for us.