March 17-B, 2023

Tricolored Heron 02 08/30/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — The Bog Garden, Greensboro, North Carolina
We live surrounded by great mysteries
which we never pause to recognize,
consider,
wonder about,
as though we have something to do
that is more important.

Did someone just say,
"More Important"?
What an amazing coincidence!
I was just thinking "more important"!
And wondering about how we go about
determining what is important 
and what is not.

That is one of the greatest mysteries
of all time!

We all seem to know what is important!
How do we know that!
How do we know that we are right about that!
Who says so?
Who says not-so?
How do we know if they know
what they are talking about?

We seem to just take it on faith
that we know what is important
and what is not.

But how can we be sure???

And, then, out of nowhere,
just like that (winks),
we change our mind about what is important!

HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN???

We don't intend it.
We don't think about it for days.
We don't consult the experts
(Our mother, for instance,
or our father,
or some ethics professor
at some important university
[Which got to be important,
exactly how?])...

What is important just comes and goes,
by its own volition, it seems.
And nobody is interested 
in getting to the bottom of it.

And that is another thing,
some things interest us 
and some things don't.
How do we know which things
are interesting?

And how do we change our minds?

Why do we see the way we see,
and not some other way instead?

Why do we think the way we see
is the right way to see?
The way things should be seen everywhere?
All the time?

These are all significant matters.
They determine how we live.
And no one knows where they come from,
what keeps them in place,
and why they go (or where they go)
when they leave?

And they leave all the time!

Our mind changes of its own accord,
the way we saw things last week
is not the way we see things now.

Hulu! Tic-Toc!
Where do these things come from?
They weren't here,
and then they are here,
and then, one day, they will not be here!
And everyone is being controlled
by something beyond themselves,
to suddenly see the importance,
and then the lack of importance,
of the things that run their lives.
And then, don't.

And nobody thinks that's strange.
Or out of the ordinary.

And that's another thing!
Where does "ordinary" come from?
And where does it go?

–0–

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.

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