LAUGHTER IN HEAVEN

There are two basic ways of proceeding with these entries: either I have a theme I intend to develop, such as in the new “Pond Life,” or by association as in this entry, which I am in the process of altering slightly, thematically now. John Wallhausser and I were excellent friends. He was a brilliant teacher and person whom I admired and loved exceedingly. When I first did this entry, I started with the poem, intending nothing more. But writing a silly verse about the philosopher Socrates and especially his wife, Xantippe, led me to think about my friend John and our delicious time together at Berea, in the classroom and out. Thus the second part came by association: The first philosopher led to the second philosopher (and theologian, but I was a bit lazy and did not really make the real connection, one I discovered after being pummeled by a severe editor and critic, so to speak, for my laziness. The basic, underlying image is the continuation in Heaven of the laughter that began between us on Earth. I see John looking down from the Heavenly perspective and laughing deeply at the silliness of my verse on Socrates and his wife. Had he been here and well, several of us, well two more, John, myself, Bob and Fred, would have gone to Applebee’s or the Texas Road House, and had beer and lots of food, and I would have read my verse, well, recited since the verses still stick in my mind for a while and I don’t carry them around. So, in memory of our time of good companionship and joy, I present “The Philosopher’s Wife.”

The original entry from here on began thusly, minus a sentence or two:

I don’t know why this new phone poem sort of popped into my head, but it did, or maybe I do know now that I think about it; however, I am not brave enough to say:

The Philosopher’s Wife

Xantippe hurled a piss-pot

At her husband’s eye,

The organ he transfixed her with

Each time he asked her, “Why?”

Xantippe was Socrates’ wife and rumored to have been 40 years younger than Socrates. Apparently they had 3 sons. [John and Mary, John’s beautiful and delightful wife of many years, have three fine sons, but Mary is nothing like Xantippe, of course, though I am sure that, like most wives of long standing, once in a while she might have enjoyed hurling something at John’s head.]

When I was teaching at Berea, I was good friends with the members of the Philosophy and Religion department, even an honorary member of the department; we tended to prank one another, especially my friend Wallhausser and I. One time, for example, I was returning from lunch just a bit after one o’clock. John taught a class on the second floor at one, and I just happened to find an empty whisky bottle under a bush outside our building. Really! Keeping our campus clean, I picked up the bottle; I intended to put it in the trash can inside, but when I opened the door, I heard John holding forth on the second floor at the top of the stairs, because he had left his classroom door open. I climbed the stairs, staggered into his classroom, singing and shouting incoherently, then immediately fell down on the floor.
John never missed a beat. He knew I was acting, that I would never show up for class polluted [and didn’t drink whisky], but he gently helped me up, put his arm around me, then carefully helped me stagger out of the classroom where we had a good laugh, though I think he closed the door on his way back in.
The P & R offices were on the second floor too, at one end of the hallway; mine were on the other end before the renovations. P & R had a bulletin board which was just outside John’s office door. One time I posted an anonymous slogan which I, of course, made up and was inordinately proud of: “Jesus turned water into wine; theologians turn wine into water.” Over the years we all turned a lot of beer, usually, but also wine into water together.

John was not only a great friend, he was also an impressive scholar, an excellent teacher (he and I team-taught at least 3 or 4 short term courses, our favorite being “Into the Woods,” perhaps) and a wonderful artist. My wife and I have 3 of his matted watercolors next to my chair in the living room and others throughout the house.
After a fairly long and difficult illness, John died July 18, 2019. He was one of my all-time best friends; I loved him; I miss him greatly.

JOHN WALLHAUSSER, Colleague and irreplaceable friend.

[photo from a former student, taken in 1985]