The Goethe Moment

There are moments in life that are so sublime they transcend normal human experience. Moments that live in your soul for all eternity as the most fulfilling you have ever had. I refer to these as Goethe Moments.

In Goethe's Faust, the title character makes a deal with Satan. The Devil will grant him all the world's experiences, and when Faust has found the thing, the moment when he says "This is it, this is the best life has to offer", then Satan can come and take his soul to Hell.

I was in my thirties before I had my first Goethe moment. Not surprisingly, it involved sex. I had several of these with the same person, but they were all sexual in nature. I began to doubt such a moment could derive from an experience outside of the bedroom.

Then I met her. A friendship developed, and after she and her boyfriend broke up we became extraordinarily close. We hung out together whenever I was in town. Much to my shock I discovered I was developing feelings for her.

She had mentioned on several occasions not being able to get tickets to an event she really wanted to attend. I went onto E-Bay and bought tickets, and took her as her Christmas present. As we were standing in line this look crossed her face that I lack the eloquence to describe, she smiled, put her hand on my back and said "Nice job."

That moment, that smile was the ultimate Goethe moment. In my mind I said "This is it. You can take me off to Hell now."

Little did I know the Devil would take me seriously.