"If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear, does it make a sound?" You have heard that one. Or one more serious: if a person lives and dies and no one notices, if the world continues as it was, was that person ever really alive?

What brings that question to mind is that sadly cynical passage from Ecclesiastes a moment ago in combination with a motion picture that is currently making the rounds called "About Schmidt."(1) When we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago, one of our friends recommended it to us, so we went.

Interesting movie. It stars Jack Nicholson in a unique role, one which reviewers are raving about and saying he is a mortal lock to get an Academy Award nomination from it. He is Warren Schmidt, an actuary for the Woodmen of the World Insurance compan…