01
Live to be good for nothing. Live to do what is good whether it does any good or not. Live to be who Jesus was, who, when he died, left more evil in the world than was there when he was born. Who left more poor and hungry people in the world than were there when he was born. Who left more suffering and sorrow, more pain and anguish, more slavery, more inhumanity, more atrocity, more anarchy, more destruction and devastation, more of everything people need less of in their life than was there before he was born. And he knew it. And he did not let it stop him. Or even slow him down. He died saying, "Listen to me! See what needs to be done right where you are and do it! When it needs to be done! The way it needs to be done! Because it needs to be done! In each situation as it arises! All your life long! No matter what! And do not pause living in the service of the good for anything!" We are resistant to serving some good that might do more harm than good in the long run. Joe Biden spends his time looking around for a good that is Nothing But Good. He won't end the filibuster because it might make some things worse in the future. Well, name me something that doesn't carry with it that possibility! Don't let the long term keep you from serving the good of the sort term! And do not, whatever you do not do, do not ever, let the outcome determine what good you do or whether you do it! "Get in there and do your thing-- and don't worry about the outcome!" Was Joseph Campbell's summation of the Bhagavad Gita. Jesus would have said the same thing. From the cross.
–0–
02
What keeps you going? Force of habit? Lack of anything better to do? Inertia? How long has it been since you lived from the heart? Since you were glad to be alive? Since you leaped into the day eager to see what it held and what you could do with it? Since you sang and danced, winking and twinkling, in the rain, or whatever the day had in store? What happened? What took caring away from you? And left you with going through the motions, unaware of where you are, or what you are doing, or where you've been, or where you're going? Who ARE you? What are you about? What do you believe in? What evidence is there suggesting that you believe in anything? Live as though it matters-- whether it matters or not! If you are going to believe anything, believe that it matters how we live, and live like it! In each situation as it arises! Day by day! All day long! Doing what needs to be done the way it needs to be done, when it needs to be done, because it needs to be done, no matter what! Live to see what you can do with the day-- every day! Empty yourself of all the things that keep that from happening, and sit still, be quiet, empty in the silence, paying attention to what arises in the silence, looking for what has a spark of energy, of vitality, of spirit about it, winking at you, calling your name. Go with that into the field of action. See where it leads. Without caring how it looks or what people will think or how you can explain anything. Trust yourself to the invisible forces of the invisible world. Let your heart tell you what, and let your head figure out how. And let every day be an adventure in what now? In what's next? Living with the wind of the spirit that blows where it will forever in your hair!
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 