jimwdollar

January 13-A, 2023

The influence of art, music and nature connects us with transcendent, ineffable, numinous reality, and restores, revitalizes, nurtures, nourishes our soul in ways we do not understand. We experience it without being able to explain it. And talking about it breaks the spell and snaps us back into the world of normal, apparent, reality. But,Continue reading “January 13-A, 2023”

January 12-B, 2023

Having faith is having an opinion and believing in it. I have faith in the Cajun Queen’s (A restaurant in Charlotte, NC) ability to deliver a plate of crawfish etouffee to perfection. In other words, in my opinion the crawfish etouffee at the Cajun Queen is perfect. Faith is always in an opinion, if itContinue reading “January 12-B, 2023”

January 12-A, 2023

We are at play with our circumstances to see what can happen. The challenge is to live in ways that make things better for all people. It is tricky because we get very little cooperation, and a lot of opposition. The challenge remains in place in spite of the odds. It cannot matter to usContinue reading “January 12-A, 2023”

January 11-B, 2023

Rodney King’s question, “Why can’t we just get along?” remains unanswered as an unacknowledged burden of every generation, and will remain so as long as there are “People like you who make people like me hate people like you.” Because you are black, or Mexican, or gay, or poor, or … whatever it is thatContinue reading “January 11-B, 2023”

January 11-A, 2023

Trust yourself to know what is called for and listen to your heart, listen to your body, in each situation as it arises. Without plans, agendas, expectations, desires, will, judgment and opinion. Just doing what needs to be done when, where and how it needs to be done, time after time. If you don’t knowContinue reading “January 11-A, 2023”

January 10-C, 2023

“Empty your mind as you step to the line” is an old adage regarding shooting free-throws in basketball. It flows from an older adage about archery in the Taoist canon: “The ability of the archer to hit the bullseye varies in inverse proportion to the size of the prize for doing so.” Or, the shorterContinue reading “January 10-C, 2023”

January 10-B, 2023

We cannot come to ourselves without leaving the culture behind. The return to Eden meant death to those entering the Land of Promise. That would be the death Jesus died before his death on the cross– the metaphorical/symbolic death in Gethsemane, with “Thy will, not mine, be done.” We, like Jesus, have to die toContinue reading “January 10-B, 2023”

January 10-A, 2023

Getting/having, going/doing, ignores/discounts/dismisses/disregards what arises spontaneously within in response to what is happening, or needs to happen, in each situation as it arises. Living in response to the moment leaves a lot of time between actions. What needs to happen is usually not quick on the heels of what just happened, but waits for circumstancesContinue reading “January 10-A, 2023”

January 09-B, 2023

The difference between living well and living poorly is easy to attain and impossible to retain. It is a moving, shifting, changing balance point between all of the extremes, created by the fundamental absurdity at the ground of reality: There Is No Steady State Of Being! “All we want is smooth and easy” (Ogi Overman).Continue reading “January 09-B, 2023”

January 09-A, 2023

I don’t care what you believe. When people ask me if I believe in God, I ask them if they believe in gravity and continental drift. It doesn’t matter what we believe about all three, or if we believe anything. That Which Has Always Been Called “God,” gravity and continental drift get along quiet wellContinue reading “January 09-A, 2023”

January 08-B, 2023

What do you need to know? How will that change your life? How will it change your relationship with your life? How will it change your idea of what is important? How will it make you better able to assess what needs to be done and do it when, where and how it needs toContinue reading “January 08-B, 2023”

January 08-A, 2023

Do not try to do anything. You cannot try to be hungry. You cannot try to go to sleep, or stay awake. You cannot try to remember something that is “right there.” But. You can be hungry, go to sleep, stay awake and remember. But #2. The doing is not connected to the trying. WeContinue reading “January 08-A, 2023”