October 01, 2026

Jane Bald — Roan Mountain Highlands, Roan Mountain State Park, Carver’s Gap Tennessee

Wu-Wei is the Tao at work in the Cosmos, getting things done without doing anything. The way a glacier moves, or melts. The way water creates the Grand Canyon over time. The way the Appalachian Mountains produce Balds where trees do not grow. The way things are, and also are. Who knows how? Or why? It is “the force of nature,” for things to be as they are and not some other way instead. “The way of a ship on the sea. The way of a snake on a rock. The way of a man with a woman.” Who can understand these things? Who can deny them? Tao at work in the Cosmos.

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, five granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and a great grandson on the way, within about ten minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.

Leave a comment