“Welcome! You’re right on time—three lifetimes late and exactly on schedule.”

—Larry, the Universe

Remember that Guy, Larry?

You know the one. The landlord, the middle manager, the insurance guy. A little frayed at the edges, occasionally on a bender, but somehow he keeps the lights on and the ship afloat.

That’s Larry, and around here you’re going to hear his name — a lot.

See, a long time ago we were pondering the problem of “the divine.” (I know what you’re thinking — just stick with us.) We asked: in today’s world, would we even recognize God if they sat across from us at the DMV?

And then the skies parted: of course we would! We already know that guy. You guessed it — Larry.

Larry is our stand-in name for “something bigger than us” — the mysterious, maddening, occasionally miraculous force hiding in plain sight.

Think about it (go on, we’ll wait)… that uncanny moment when you mutter, “Hold on, what just happened?” or “Who’s running this show exactly?” Then you find yourself staring at the ceiling, the walls, the sky—searching for some explanation of the cosmic mechanics behind that oddly timed, strangely meaningful, but ultimately bewildering experience you just had.

Yep. Pretty much everyone knows Larry. They just don’t know that they know him—you know what we mean?

His motives are impossible to comprehend, his demands unreasonable, his apparent flaws… epic. Yet somehow, he’s everywhere, running absolutely everything.

Life under Larry can be frustrating on the best of days, but you have to admit, he’s strangely reliable. And whether we like it or not, the reason behind his madness usually surfaces eventually. That’s when “what the actual—” turns into “aww, man…,” and you realize with a sigh and a little humility that you’ve once again been “Larry’ed.”

So, that’s him.

That’s Larry, the Universe. He gets blamed (and occasionally, eventually… inevitably thanked) for most things around here.

LARRY (n.)

  1. Stand-in name for “something bigger than us.” A disarming alias for the divine, the cosmos, or whatever mysterious force keeps the ship afloat.

  1. Archetype of the flawed-but-functional middle manager: motives incomprehensible, demands unreasonable, attire slightly wrinkled — yet strangely reliable, everywhere at once, and impossible to fire.

  2. Collective shorthand for the maddening, miraculous mystery that hides in plain sight, running things in ways no one fully understands, but without whom nothing quite works.

Usage:
“Larry’s at it again.”
“Blame Larry.”
“Thanks, Larry. Thanks a lot.”

Synonyms:
The Universe, God, Source, Spirit, Cosmos, Fate, The Thing That Keeps Me Upright.

So here’s the deal: you can think of Larry however you like. Call him God or Heavenly Father, or call her Source or Divine Mother. Call them Spirit, or Cosmos, or Brad, or Janet. Call them “that which keeps me upright when I shouldn’t be.” The name is just a placeholder, a way of shaking loose the tension so we can talk honestly with shared language about the hard, weird, beautiful business of relating to the universe—in all its mysteries—beyond ourselves.

Follow the journey.