01

Find the flow of your life,
sense the movement--
or the blockage--
and become curious
about the state of flow
here and now.

Courage assists flow,
fear resists it.
Anger throttles it.
Compassion creates options
and possibilities.

Receiving the moment
with compassion
opens us to the possibilities
of flow inherent 
in each situation
as it arises.

What is trying to move?
What is keeping that from happening?
Where is growth taking place?
What is saying "Yes"?
What is saying "No"?
What needs to happen?
What is discouraging the flow
from here to there?
What is encouraging flow?
Preventing movement?
Maintaining the status quo?

Does your sense of your own
drift and flow
mesh with the drift and flow
of the situation?

Is there conflict?
Opposition?
Are you and the situation
flowing in different directions?
Not flowing at all?

Are you a threat to the situation?
Is the situation a threat to you?

Consider the nature of the flow
within and around you.
Where is the movement?
What are the questions?
What is blocking the flow of life?

Watch what happens
and what happens in response.
Does that interchange feel like flow
or resistance to flow?
Like things are happening
or like nothing is happening?

What does that mean to/for you?
What needs to happen 
for the flow to resume?
Commence?

–0–

02

Nothing blocks the flow of life and being
like My Way Now!

My Way Now! is the end of the world.
Any world.
Every world.

Living in accord with The Way
is living out of accord with My Way Now!

This is what is at stake in
"Thy will, not mine, be done!"

Christians blow that to hell
by turning it into
"If it be thy will,
can I have a pink Cadillac? Now?"

Having My Way Now, or Ever,
is out of the question for those
intent on aligning themselves
with The Way beyond their way.

We are not in it
for what we can get out of it.
And that means not getting 
anything out of The Way
beyond being one with The Way,
and experiencing the wonder
and the bliss
of the everlasting nature
of that moment
in each situation as it arises,
knowing oneness with The Way
is all there is--
as in:
"It's the pirate's life for me, Gibbs.
I have no say in the matter.
Savvy?"

Having no say in the matter
is what being in accord with The Way
comes down to.

We are here to say and to do
what needs to be said and done,
and we do not get to say what that is,
but to recognize what it is
and comply with it
in each situation as it arises.

Living to impose My Will Now
upon every situation that arises
is not the way to The Way.
Savvy?

–0–

03

I have to photograph
what catches my eye.
I have to write
what needs to be written.
I have no say in the matter.
Savvy?

What do you have to do
for no other reason 
than because you have to do it?
There you are.
Do that.

And you become/express/exhibit/serve
who you are
and what is yours to do
by doing it.

It is as simple as that.
And that is all there is to it.
Savvy?

–0–

04

This is as close as I got to the sun in 10 days of searching for scenes, and about as much of the mountains as I saw. The woman at the dinner register said, "Honey, if it isn't raining, it's burning (referring to the forest fires that were frequent occurrences). Between the two, I'll take the rain. And did.

We take what's there
and see what we can do with it.

We could do more with better options,
but the choices we get
are the choices that are there.
What will it be?
It is ours to say.
Our whole life long.

We wake up and choose
from among our choices
day-by-day,
and that's our life.
How well we do it
tells the tale.

It helps to not take it seriously,
to have nothing at stake in it,
to be able to dance with what the day brings,
and let it go,
and let that be that,
because tomorrow is coming,
and today's troubles
can't be infringing 
on tomorrow's possibilities,
or the trends and tendencies
stack up and become a log jam,
impeding the day's flow
day after day
until there is no movement at all,
only the same old same old
for as long as life lasts.

We have to start fresh each day,
with no carry-over to speak of,
and only here and now to consider,
without past or future crowding out
the present
which is always the only time
available to us
to work our magic
and express our gifts/daemon/shtick/specialties/self
in the time and place of our living,
no matter what.

Attitude transforms circumstance
and makes the most of each moment
by discovering doors where there are no doors,
and seeing the path where there is no path,
and finding the light where there is only darkness,
like Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking
and the kids with Down Syndrome.

–0–

05

It all comes down to doing 
what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises--
without opinion,
objection,
condemnation or ridicule.

If it needs to be done, do it!
That is all there is to it!

Not what we say needs to be done,
but what we see needs to be done.
And we have to be right about it.

And being right about it
is not difficult.
We only have to do what we 
sincerely think needs to be done,
and the outcome will guide us
toward adjusting and altering our response
until we get it right.

What needs to be done is not a matter of opinion
or point of view.
The situation is autonomous and independent
of all judgment, perspective and preference.

What is right is right in each particular
time and place,
moment-to-moment,
in each situation as it arises,
dependent upon the circumstances at hand,
and unfettered by what was called for
in the last situation,
or may be called for in the next situation.

This is what Jesus understood
when he said,
"The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will,
unbound by tradition,
convention or expectation,
convenience or mood or desire."

Just see what needs to be done and do it.
In each situation as it arises.
Your entire life long.

No one can do better than that.
Not nobody.
Not nohow.

–0–

01

Begin paying attention to your situations,
noticing when one goes over into another.

Our situations carry us with them,
becoming our life,
so that our life is simply
a string of situations,
one going over into the next,
from birth to death.

Each situation has its own movement,
its own pace and timing,
with each one being a chapter in our day.

If we see ourselves dancing with our situations,
instead of struggling to master them,
or direct them,
or orchestrate,
choreograph,
manage them,
we will be putting ourselves in the position
to influence our situations,
rather than trying to control them.

Control is the prerogative of mystery
and wonder--
of forces quite beyond us
and unknown to us--
quite apart from our will and desire.

Our role is not to have our way,
but to assist the unfolding 
of our life
in the situations 
that comprise it,
by reading each situation
in light of what is happening there
and what needs to happen in response,
and doing what we can do 
in the service of what is called for
with the gifts/genius/specialties/shtick/etc.
that come with us from the womb,
and are "the face that was ours
before we were born,"
which is to say,
our original nature.

Being true to ourselves
in responding to the needs of the situation,
with sincerity and spontaneity,
is what we bring to the moment,
as blessing and grace,
by offering what we have to give
to the occasions that need exactly that,
and participating in the making of miracles
(unknowingly assisting the forces quite beyond us
and unknown to us) throughout each day.

–0–

02

Our work is to put ourselves
in accord with the moment,
moment by moment,
throughout our day
and our life.

Every moment,
of every situation,
is asking something of us.
Is asking for our cooperation
and support in some way.

We generally go into our moments,
our situations,
with agenda in one hand,
and a bullhorn in the other,
ordering, arraigning, manipulating,
orchestrating, directing, managing,
controlling, and living toward
a particular outcome
that we have clearly and firmly in mind.

It is Win Or Lose in every situation.
Cooperation and concordance have no place
in our approach to our life,
and therein lies the root of all our problems.

Our Way is not The Way more often than not,
seldom if ever.
Assisting The Way is staying out of The Way
more often than not, always and forever.

What is trying to happen here?
What needs to happen here?
How can we help as midwives
delivering a baby?

Every situation is a new birth 
in the making,
which we abort,
not knowing what we are doing
knowing what we are doing,
or would be doing,
if people would only get out of our way
and listen to us.

–0–

03

New Englanders have a saying,
"I am not carrying this day
one step beyond where it needs to go!"

Lao Tzu said, around 500 BCE),
"Do your work
and step back.
Knowing when to stop
is the wisdom of the ages."

Knowing what our work is,
and knowing when it is done,
and when it is time to move on
is all the knowing
we need to know.

And, if we think our work
has anything at all to do
with making money,
or being compensated in any way,
we need to go back to the first day
and start over
knowing nothing.

–0–

04

Putting ourselves in accord with The Way
in each situation as it arises
has to do not only with what we do,
but also with how we do it.

Getting our attitude right is essential
to getting our actions right.

Doing what needs to be done
wholeheartedly--
as though our heart in in what we are doing,
whether it is or not--
is the cornerstone in Accord.

Sincerity and integrity
require us to "fake it until we make it"
from the heart--
faking it all the way.
Faking it so well that not even we
can tell if our heart is in it or not.

This is what Jesus meant when he said,
"Don't let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing."
He is saying,
"Do it like you mean it,
whether you mean it or not."

Live like we mean it,
whether we mean it or not!

That is the attitude required
to get our attitude as it needs to be.
To get ourselves as we need to be,
in 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.

This means that when your in-laws come
for a visit
they think they are welcome
every time.

–0–

05

I am confident that the phrase,
"Let the Force be with you,"
is not to be found/heard in any 
of the Star Wars movies. 
"Trust the Force, Luke,"
is as close as it gets.

But "Let the Force be with you,"
is an accurate depiction of how 
the Force is thought of in all of the movies.
And I have an issue with that.

Force is militant, first and foremost.
It has a militant ring to it,
and though "force" is a neutral enough word
when used for gravity, light, and electricity,
it's association with forcing someone to do 
something against their will
is too obnoxious to use in reference to
the "Light Side," in opposition to "The Dark Side."

Forces at war with each other is much too 
reflective of our general attitude
about good guys and bad guys
and the right side winning all of the time.

One quick glance at the natural world
and we see that "good" and "bad" 
are strictly points of view,
with no morally significant meaning
beyond what we make up and apply at will.

Nature is morally neutral.
In the natural world, the Law of the Fishes applies,
without preference regarding the outcomes:
"The big fish eat the little fish,
and the little fish swim through the holes
in the nets that haul the big fish to the cannery."

No Light and Dark at war with each other through time.
That was invented by Zarathustra between 1500 and 1000 BCE.
It came right out of his imagination,
and that is all there is to it.
All of the references to it from that point on
have been embellishments of Zarathustra's original idea.

The is no warfare between the Forces of Good
and the Forces of Evil,
and use of the word "force" triggers all of these 
false references to Zarathustra's fantasies.

So, from my point of view, "force" is not to be used.

I much prefer "Flow."

"Let the Flow be with you!"
"Go with the Flow!"
"Be One with the Flow!"
"Flow with your life, and be well!"
...

The possibilities are many,
and are much more accurate
than any associated with "force."

01

Leverage in any situation
is used to lever the good of the situation
into place.

Every situation needs something.
To step into each situation
endeavoring to serve our advantage,
our good,
our gain,
our benefit,
our desire
is to do grave harm
not only to that situation
but also to all situations 
which flow from that one.

We live with our ends in mind,
and here we are.
This world we live in 
is the result of that orientation.
This is the best that can do.

We change the world
by changing the way 
we approach our life
and the situations
that open before us.

Step innocently into 
the next situation 
that arises before you,
with nothing to lose
and nothing to gain,
just looking,
just listening,
seeing what's what
and what needs to be done,
what is being called for,
what the situation is crying out for,
and move to meet that need
with the gifts/daemon/specialties/shtick/etc.
that are yours to offer.

What do you have that the situation needs?
Make that available 
when the time is right,
and see where it goes.

You might ask aloud,
"What are we doing here?
What are we hoping to accomplish?
What needs to be done?"
Focusing on what we are doing
and what we need to be doing,
can be all some situations need
to move toward closure.

In other situations,
it is obvious what needs to happen.
Articulate that and see what happens.
Or, simply act to serve the need--
be what is called for--
and let that move the situation as it will,
without forcing the action
or directing the outcome.

A engaged presence
with nothing at stake in what happens,
keeps things moving toward their natural conclusion.
And a result that is far more satisfactory
than forced choices and artificial agreement.

–0–

02

We live looking for the action,
any action.

We live for distraction,
diversion,
deflection.
denial.

We live to be entertained.
To have our mind taken off
of what we are left with
without any escapes
at hand.
With the prayer of the weary fleers
as the mantra of the day,
every day:
"O God, save us from having 
to live our life again today!"

What would we do
without something to do?

It is no wonder 
that Jesus said,
"Tell you what.
I'll see you later."

First, we have to be here now.
Not us!
Maybe later!
Maybe tomorrow!
Maybe one day!
Maybe sometime!
Not now!
Not here!
Anywhere but here!
Especially now!

Our plan is to not be where we are
ever.

I'm sure you see the problem.

I have no idea what we are 
going to do about it.

We have to get to the 
end of our rope
before we can change our mind
about what is important.

And we have a lot of rope.

Let the good times roll!

–0–

03

It comes down to us and our life.
Here we are, now what?
It's up to us, what.
We have our choices and decisions
to work with.
Where we go from here is up to us.

So, sit down.
Tell me what you don't like
about your life.

And what you are willing to do
to transform your relationship with it--
and with yourself--
and with the people you spend time with.

The first thing to change
is the way you think about your life,
yourself
and the people you spend time with.

Start thinking about your thinking.
The way you think has you where you are.
If you thought differently,
you wouldn't be here, now.
You would be somewhere else.
Maybe better, maybe worse.

Nothing happens without a shift
in the way you think.

You begin to make the shift
by thinking about your thinking.

The way you feel flows from
the way you think.
Change the way you think
and you change the way you feel.
You begin to change the way you think
by thinking about your thinking.

Thinking about your thinking
means challenging the way you think.
Calling yourself out.
Demanding accountability.

It means thinking about 
the different ways you could be thinking
but aren't.

Dig around in there.
Why not?
When did you settle on this way to think
and not that way,
or that way over there?
What made it easy for you
to start thinking the way you think?
How do the people you spend time with
support you in the way you think?
Who among them challenges the way you think?
Have you withdrawn from people
who challenge the way you think?
What's up with that?

The way you think got you here, now.
You aren't going to be somewhere else
without changing the way you think.
You are going to have to think your way
to somewhere else.
That means changing the way you think.
That means challenging the way you think.

Consider that all your dichotomies
(Your either/or's)
are false dichotomies,
and that all of your conclusions
are foregone conclusions,
and give yourself a break from you.

Have it out with yourself.
You got yourself here, now.
You aren't leaving here, now
with the same self that got you here, now.

You are going to leave with a New You.

And it starts with thinking about your thinking.

Start thinking.

–0–

01

When the destabilizing forces
roll through your world,
how do you re-stabilize?

What do you do to restore
balance and harmony?

I wait to find the next thing
that needs to be done
and do it.

And then find the next thing
that needs to be done
and do it.

And on and on like that.

Doing the next thing
carries us past the last thing.
And when we are overwhelmed,
we can get our feet back under us
just doing the next thing that needs doing,
and the thing after that,
and letting our thinking be focused
on what we are doing,
and not on what's going to happen,
and what are we going to do...

The focus is just on what we are doing,
right here, right now.
And on what is the next thing.
This thing and the next thing
are all we need to worry about
right here, right now.

Restore our balance.
Regain our harmony.
Seek the consolation
of the inner guide,
the ministrations of soul/psyche,
the comfort of the communion
of our ancestors mediated
through the Collective Unconscious 
of our DNA.
Knowing we are not alone,
but carry the genetic makeup
of people who were slammed and stunned 
and found what they needed to carry on.

We belong to a great company
of those who were destabilized and undone
and figured out how to do it
and come through it.

Open to their presence and guidance,
wisdom and insight
flowing into and merging with our own
and finding that to be a source
of courage and strength
in the darkness waiting for the light.
In the silence listening for the sound
of goodness and life
coming to life again.
Even here.
Even now.
Even yet.
Even so.

–0–

02

Every scene is better
at one time than another.
The photographer's work
is waiting on the right time
and knowing it when they see it.

Not every time is the right time
to take a photograph.

Snapshooters don't know this,
and treat all times alike.

This is the only difference
between anybody with a camera
and a photographer with a camera.

Taking pictures out of the picture,
all times are the right time for something.

It is our place as Servants of The Way
to know what this time,
this moment,
this here and now,
is the right time for--
to know what needs to be done
here and now,
and to do it exactly when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
and do it no matter what,
time after time,
place after place,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.

The right word,
the right act,
in the right place
and the right time
is a miracle of time and place.

As Servants of The Way,
we are Masters of the Miracle
of time and place.

What is it time for right here,
right now?

Do it!
Straight from the heart!
With complete sincerity and spontaneity!
And do not worry about the outcome!
Trust yourself to the moment!
And press the shutter button!

In this way,
you will be making miracles happen
all of the time.

–0–

03

If I were to do my life over
I would do it differently.

I would start with my parents
and my point of origin.

But, here I am.

Here we all are.
This is it.
This is what we have to work with.
Just as it is.
Just as we are.

Now what?

How we answer that question
makes all the difference,
day in and day out
for the rest of the time left for living.

Given the givens,
what can we imagine doing with them
right here, right now?

How we live right here, right now,
determines,
or at least,
strongly influences,
what happens next.
And that changes everything,

This moment, 
right here, right now,
is the fulcrum,
the pivot point,
levering our future into position.

Do. Not. Do. It. Like. You. Have. 
Always. Done. It.

You can transform what remains of your life
right here, right now.

Our parents and our point of origin
are our parents and our point of origin.
What we do with that,
and with all that lies between 
then and now,
is our call to make
from this moment going forward.

We are not bound to live here and now
like we have lived in all the moments
preceding this moment.
Here, now, is where we act
to transform our possibilities
and our likelihoods.

Here, now, is where we act
to reclaim our potential
and recast our chances
and our prospects.

What is this moment asking of us?
What future are we being called to,
right here and right now?

How we live here and now,
puts that future into motion,
and makes it more likely
than it was just a moment ago.

When you sit quietly,
in the silent stillness,
what can you feel/sense
stirring within,
hoping you will give it a chance
to show you what you can become
even now, even yet,
never mind where you came from,
or who your parents were?

Follow the drift of that movement!
Give your soul the opportunity
to twinkle and dance!

We all know what our past is?
Why allow the future to just be more of that?
Why not live to find out what the future
may yet be?

Live out of your own authority
toward what is struggling/hoping
to be born in you,
through you,
even now,
even yet, 
even so! 

–0–

04

How we meet the moment
determines everything that follows.

The way to proceed 
moment by moment
is to be right about what needs 
to happen there,
and serve that with our life.

Our liege loyalty
and filial devotion
has to be to what needs to happen
in each moment
of each situation as it arises.

To step aside from the needs of the moment
is to shirk our duty to the needs of life,
and open the way to chaos and disaster.
We had that tandem off
by rising to every occasion
and doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done
in every situation as it arises
throughout our life.

To forsake the needs of the situation
in serving our own interests,
is to abandon our calling
and live lost to our wants and desires.
And, whoops, uh-oh, here we are.

We find our way back to the path
we were born to live
by the simple formula
of being right about what needs to be done
in each moment,
and serve it with our life.

And because it takes a certain knack
to know what is right,
we start with what seems/feels 
to be right 
and do that,
and read the outcome
to adjust our response
to the situation that arises.

And if it becomes apparent
that wasn't what needed to be done,
we reconsider the situation,
and do what seems/feels to be right,
and read the outcome
to adjust our response
to the situation that arises.

And, so on, until we are right
about what needs to happen
in the situation that has arisen--
and live to be right
about what needs to happen
in each situation that follows.

This is called,
"Living the adventure of our life." 

01

I recommend that you make a mandala
your personal symbol/reminder/guide
for achieving and maintaining 
balance and harmony--
which imply and include
sincerity, integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality. 

You are familiar, surely,
with the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Inventory.
It is a quick reference tool
for the opposites within us
that need to be consciously and conscientiously 
maintained in a fluid state of balance and harmony,
in order that we might respond
to our circumstances spontaneously and appropriately
in doing what needs to be done,
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.

Extraversion (E)
Introversion (I)

Sensing (S)
Intuition (N)

Thinking (T)
Feeling (F)

Judging (J)
Perceiving (P)

These are categories of preferences 
that we all are capable of
which we need to be able to call on
as needed by the time and place of our living.

Consciously working to balance our ability
to be comfortable using either pair of opposites
in each category
positions us to be ready to meet
whatever the day brings,
confident in our ability to respond
appropriately as needed--
without thinking, plotting or planning--
because we are naturally capable
of living from the center of all extremes
in the moment it is called for
upon the field of action.

This is not about getting our way,
but doing what needs to be done.
Being overly concerned for having our way,
shifts us from the center
and tilts us toward using any means
necessary to get what we want.

Balance and harmony go out the window,
and we are left to fight it out
with whatever we think will serve our purpose
at the moment.

Living from the center
will not serve our way
unless our way 
is to live from the center
and let the outcome be the outcome.

A mandala will not help accomplish
our goals
unless our goals 
are to live from the center
and let the outcome be the outcome.

There is living from our heart.
And there is living from the will to achieve/
acquire/possess/dominate/subjugate/and succeed.

First, we have to decide what is important
and how to know if we are right about it 
being important.

Then we can decide if a mandala is right for us.

–0–

02

If you have no affinity for mystery in your life,
there is nothing I can do for you,
and you are wasting your time here.

There is nothing anybody can do for you,
and you may as well be fitted for a casket,
and lie in it waiting for it to be time
for the dirt and a headstone,
for all the good walking around is going to do you.
You are already dead, waiting to die.

That is what having no affinity for mystery is good for.
"Absolutely nothing."
Same as war.

But, for you folks who enjoy your affinity for mystery,
you are awash in all that life has to offer!
Splash around in it!
Relish it!
Seek out the radiance and the wonder--

learn to see it everywhere,
at all times!

Everything reeks of mystery!
Speaks of mystery!
Resounds with mystery!
Confounds with mystery!

Learn to recognize it,
embrace it,
love it,
dance with it,
cuddle it,
coddle it,
laugh with it
and walk with it
throughout the time left for living!

You will be better off for it
in countless ways!

–0–

03

The Vision Quest,
The Hero's Journey,
and Coming of Age
all amount to the same thing:
Growing Up.

We put growing up off forever.
The culture encourages it.
Growing up is bad for the economy,
and the economy drives the culture.

The value of money 
depends upon the flow of money.
When a depression hits,
the wealthiest of the wealthy thrive,
but the merely wealthy
and the middle class
and the lower class
all suffer immense loss 
of status and comfort,
because money stopped flowing.

Growing up creates a depression-like impact
in that mature people 
don't spend money as their immature
look-a-likes do.
They don't need to.
They have no use of the diversions
money creates and sustains.

Growing up is not something
people stand in line to do,
and it doesn't take much 
of a glittering alternative
to hijack an entire culture
into terminal immaturity
for generations.

Our culture has been doing it from the start.
We create cultures to avoid growing up.
It is what we do best.

Nobody takes up a vision quest,
launches themselves on the hero's journey
or goes to the trouble of coming of age
because they recognize it as a good idea.
They do it because their life requires it
and they prefer that to their
drug-sex-and-alcohol-laced alternatives
(or as the only option left
after drugs, sex and alcohol
provides them with a near-death
wake-up-or-else experience).

Growing up is coming to terms
with what's what,
in a "This is the way things are,
and this is what we can do about it,
and that's that" kind of way--
with one of the things we can do about it
being growing up,
accepting not having/getting my way
and letting it be because it is
being all that is left,
and doing what can be done
with what's left 
after "my way" is taken off the table.

Growing up is living in ways
other than our own.

Everyone who grows up,
grows up against their will.
And does what they can
with what's left.

That is the vision quest,
the hero's journey,
and coming of age
reduced to their naked truth.

Good luck with your own version
of the process.

01

We can determine the degree
of our knowledge of God
by the quality of our balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality.

These are the Seven Markers of Godliness.
The higher their quality within us,
the deeper our knowledge of, affinity for, God--
and the lower their quality within us,
the shallower and more deficient
our knowledge of and affinity for God is.

We improve our knowledge of and affinity for God
by improving our capacity for, 
and expression of,
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity.
spirit, energy and vitality.

These seven areas are where
God comes to life in our life,
and are where we experience and express
oneness with God.

If you don't have any idea regarding
the quality of these areas in your life,
ask those who know you best what they think,
and ask those who know you least what they think.
Then decide what you think
about what they think.

–0–

02

We have to know what our business is
and tend it.
And know what our business is not
and walk on by.

This is a twist on the old AA slogan,
"Take what you need and leave the rest behind."

"Do what is yours to do and leave the rest behind."

Knowing what is, and is not, ours to do
is knowing where to draw the line. 

Frasier Snowden said, 
"The only true philosophical question
is 'Where do you draw the line?'"

Knowing where we draw it is essential knowing.
Drawing it is essential doing.

We are the sole authority governing 
how we live our life.
And, of course, we have to be right about it,
about where we draw lines 
and all the rest
(But all the rest is really about drawing lines,
when and where and how.
That's all there is).

And this is not a problem, being right about it all,
that is.

It is only a matter of time.

We draw a line,
or see what needs to be done and do it,
and if we are wrong,
we draw another line,
and see what needs doing next time and do it.
And if we are wrong,
we just keep drawing and doing,
and over time,
we get better at it.

So start exercising your authority
over your own life.
Draw lines where you think
lines need to be drawn.
Do what you think needs to be done.
And make adjustments as necessary
for as long as adjustments are necessary.

"Nothing to it,
but to do it"
(Maya Angelou).

–0–

03

Jesus' core message was
"You Can't Kill The Truth!"

That is what he meant when he said,
"You shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free."

"Because truth cannot die!"

Servants die in the service of truth
knowing truth cannot die.
And they pass it on,
knowing it lives on
through those who do so.

We are here to pass it on,
knowing that in so doing,
we are participating in 
the sacred act of transmission--
taking our place in the company
of all of those who have 
taken up the cause of truth
and been strong in its service
through the eons and ages
of its unfolding and coming forth.

And this is the weak link in the chain.

Truth dies when we turn away.
Are bought off,
are afraid of what will happen to us,
and live contriving a life
as though life is what matters.

Truth is what matters.

Living truthfully is the only thing.

Truth lives on in those who live truthfully.

If we do not live as though it is so,
truth dies in our hands
and blows away 
like dust in the wind.

We are living in windy times.

How we live in here, now,
makes all the difference.

Truth lives on
through those who die
in the service of truth.

In the service of the truth
of what matters most.

Do we know what that is?
Are we right about it?
Will we die for it?

What matters most?

–0–

04

Surround yourself with people
who are doing it the way
it needs to be done.

Hang out with the right kind of people.
The kind of people who see for themselves
what's what,
and what's to be done about it,
and do it,
on their own authority,
no matter what everybody else
is seeing and doing.

How many people do you know
who are like that?
Buddy-up to them.
If they will have you around.

You might have to practice being
one of those people 
in order to be recognized as one,
and allowed into their company.

You could do worse.

A lot worse.

–0–

05

The foundation of existence is "as if/as though."

The ground beneath us is not solid/sure/certain.
We are in free-fall pretending to be 
on solid rock.

We live as if/as though it all makes sense.

Life eats life!
How much sense does that make?
It doesn't matter if it makes sense or not.
We have to do what we have to do--
if that means a burger and fries,
then a burger and fries it is.

While we talk about the meaning of life,
which requires the death of something
in order to continue living.
And nobody says, "Huh?"
Everybody keeps chewing.

"Just keep chewing!" is the order of the day.
It all hangs on our not-saying,
not-asking,
not-knowing the obvious.
This. Does. Not. Make. Any. Sense. What. So. Ever.

The economy runs the show.
We have doctors and dentists and the entire health industry
working to keep people living longer
so the economy will be sound,
but they don't want us being so healthy
that we quit drinking, smoking, doing drugs,
and start eating wisely and being healthy.

Healthy lifestyles are bad for the economy.
It would be better to die early
than to live long and healthily. 

"Just keep chewing!"

Religion falls into the 
Makes No Sense category as well,
but it makes no sense to go there.
Yet, while we are here, 
I will mention just one tiny "Huh?"
in passing:

You've heard of unconditional love,
I'm sure. 
God loves us unconditionally. Got it?
And just in case that doesn't to it
and turn everyone to God in prayer
of joy and thanksgiving,
God has Hell waiting in the wings.
How unconditionally loving is that?

"Just keep chewing!"

Just live "as if/as though" it makes
all the sense in the world.

"As if/as though" is the wind beneath our wings.

And that is good 
in that it frees us
to live with abandon,
and allows us to experiment
with our life,
doing what we think needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
without having to check the rules
to see if it is allowed.

There. Are. No. Rules.
Other than the provisional ones
we make up among ourselves
to smooth the way of social discourse
and ease our way in the world.

So, we do what we think is right
and see what happens,
and if the outcome calls for
adjustment and alteration,
we make the adjustments and alterations
that seem good to us,
and see what happens,
and so on
throughout our time upon the earth,
figuring things out as we go,
and making what sense of things we can,
all the way.

It is a great way to live,
"as if/as though."
It is like learning to fly,
with "as if/as though"
as the wind beneath our wings!

01

Our life is built around 
and flows from
the things the express,
exhibit,
reveal,
disclose
our original nature
and declare who we are.

"What I do is me,"
said Gerad Manley Hopkins,
speaking for all of us,
"for that I came."

We are to live to see to it
that this is so
in our own case.

What would you need to do differently
to make it so?

How much of what you do is you,
and how much is what you do
to get/keep what you want?
How much expresses your desire to have/get,
and how much expresses your need 
to be/express/do/exhibit/make real/bring forth/serve?

Keep your eye on what drives you to action,
and deliberately seek out 
what you need to do
to convey who you are--
and do it!

–0–

02

I do not know 
how to get people to be good.

The world is dying because of 
the absence of good people.

Really bad people are everywhere
it seems.

People have lost their direction
but are not anchored 
to their own core
and have drifted into a dead zone
where nothing is alive 
to the wonder of its own being,
and everything wants to be happy
without paying the price of happiness,
so you can imagine how that's going,
or maybe you don't have to imagine it.

This is life in the wasteland
where all is wasting away,
and the life force has long since
disappeared.

People think money is a substitute,
but it is a sign of utter lifelessness
when money is used as a stand-in for life.
Money cannot buy life.
Life is a by-product of living
in the service of meaning,
and purpose, 
spirit, energy and vitality.

How long has it been?
What was the last thing we did
that provided us with
meaning and purpose,
spirit, energy and vitality?

Can you remember?

Too many people have never had
anything like that in their life.
They have been always dead,
looking for money to give them
something to live for,
waiting for some coroner to make it official.

How do we resurrect the living?
How do we resurrect ourselves?
Sit still, be quiet,
look for the source of life within.
Wait for something to stir to life,
to catch your eye,
and perhaps disappear in a flash,
so that you wonder if you saw something,
or only almost did.

Wait for it to flash you again.
So that you catch a sense of what it is,
and give chase,
bringing it to life in your life
in an actual, tangible, concrete way.

Work it into your life.
Live your life around it.
The sillier and more ridiculous it is
the better. 
You are learning how to play.
We have to play our way back to life.

So play with whatever comes to you 
in the silence
as a gift from the source,
and allow it to show you the way to life,
and living, and being alive.

And, in so doing, you will be learning
to be good for yourself.
We can't be good for others
until we can be good for ourselves,
and we play ourselves back
to the goodness of life. 

–0–

03

Ask people what they want--
No, ask yourself what you want,
and listen for the answer.

What do you want?
Is it some version of
"Enough money to do anything I want!"?
If so, you haven't answered the question.
I asked you what do you want,
and you said, more or less, "Anything I want."
Which I translate into, "Everything I want."

I expect you will get that from
everyone you ask what they want.

"I want what I want!"

Sounds like a two-year old's answer
to the same question.

Says something about the maturation level
of everyone in the world.

We never get beyond wanting what we want
right NOW!!!

MY WAY NOW!
Is the American Dream.

Put the pin to it,
to the American Dream balloon,
by asking, to yourself, and anyone else,
"What do you want right now?"
and you will get the usual list:
"To travel (To go anywhere I want)."
"To buy a house on a hill 
in a safe neighborhood close to 
good shopping."
(What are you going to buy?
"Anything I want!").

The "anything I want" theme
is not going away.
So let's pin that balloon:
What does wanting know?

You will get, "What do you mean?"
You will say,
"When has wanting gotten what you want,
for how long?"
(All of our wanting is time-limited.
How long did your first marriage last?
How long did anything last that you wanted
with all your heart?
What does wanting know about anything
other than wanting?
What does wanting know about satisfaction?
Contentment?
Desirelessness?
Peace?
Serenity?
Tranquility?
Endless Bliss?
The end of wanting?

What does wanting want?
Nothing that it doesn't want
is all that wanting knows.

There is always something else to 
want not,
and always something else to want.

Wanting is the best we can do.
"Anything I want" is the best we can imagine.

Imagine a life not driven by wants.
What would that be?
What would you do?
How would you entertain yourself?
What would you be good for?

What are you good for?
Right now?
What is your shtick?
Your specialty?
Your "thing"?

How often do you do it?
How long can you keep it up?
What brings it to an end?
How long has it been
since the last time you did it?

What is its relationship
to wanting?
Did you want it into existence,
or has it always just been there?
Do you want to do more of it
than you can work into your life?
What is stopping you from doing more of it?
How much would it take
before you didn't want to do it?
Before you wanted it not?

This writing I do, you know?
I cannot imagine not doing it,
and I don't do it because I want to,
or am in the mood for it.

And seeing things to photograph?
I can't stop it.
I can't help it.
It has nothing to do with what I want,
or don't want.
It is just "there."
It has always been "there."

What's like that in your life?
How "owned" by it are you?
What keeps you from being "possessed"?
"Completely possessed"?

What has always been "there" for you?

What are you doing about it?

–0–

01

When The Way is not trusted,
duty comes to the fore.
Dharma tells us how to act.
Should's
Must's
Ought's
replace our natural,
intuitive,
instinctive
sense of what is called for
moment-to-moment
in each situation as it arises.

We begin to live by the book
instead of living from the heart.

The way of the child,
before Should/Ought/Must
bear down upon her (him),
is to respond sincerely
and honestly to the moment
in doing what she (he)
feels needs to be done there.

Our task is to get back to the child,
to "the face that was ours before we were born,"
and to live in our moments
as those who are open to each one,
and free to respond instinctively/intuitively 
to what is happening there--
just doing what needs to be done,
just being what is called for there.

Allowing the circumstances
to elicit our natural response,
without artificially imposing
our idea of what should be done--
spontaneously offering the right thing,
without thinking about what we are doing.

Can we do that?
Can we just watch what we do
without meddling with the moment?
Without thinking about what we ought to do?
Without imposing The Rules?
Just allowing our heart to lead us
in the dance with time and place?

–0–

02

Living tactfully, artfully,
moment to moment
is paying attention
to the time and place of our living,
without contrivance,
or agendas,
or designs,
or schemes,
or plans,
or intentions,
or goals,
or ambitions,
or ideas
squeezing the life out of the moment
in ways that might be beneficial to us.

Living tactfully, artfully,
moment to moment 
is seeing the moment,
hearing the moment,
knowing what is happening there
and sensing what is being called for,
and speaking/acting
in light of what the moment needs
from us,
and not in light of what we stand to gain
from the moment.

With nothing to gain,
nothing to lose,
and nothing at stake,
everything is possible
in any moment.

The good lies in being who we are
and letting things fall into place
around that.

No contrivance, just being.

Doing flows from being
in response to what needs to happen.

The identity of water--
water being water--
is its blessing.

All things find their place
just by being what they are.

No wanting, no seeking,
no striving to have, 
to attain, to gain...

Agendas and ideologies,
ambition and aspiration,
wanting and desiring and
having to have
are at odds with the way
of the moment at hand
and what needs to happen here and now,
and spontaneously serving it
in each situation as it arises.

See clearly.
Respond appropriately.
The key to life.

–0–

03

Being prepared for anything
is being grounded in,
anchored upon,
our original nature.

We are born with everything we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
in any situation that arises,
in a "Here we are, now what?"
kind of way.

We don't know what is coming,
but we can know who we are,
and trust ourselves to bring forth
from our own depths
what is needed
to find what is needed
to do what needs to be done.

The Mystery is what to do
about what needs to be done.
We do not think our way there.
We simply wait to see what we do
in response to the situation at hand,
without forcing anything.

It is like giving birth
when we didn't know we were pregnant.

–0–

04

The mysterious power arising within
is not a function of willful,
deliberate, striving,
but of being in accord with The Way
of time and place meeting opportunity
in the field of action,
with our only responsibility being that
of being present and being open
to the situation at hand
in a "Here we are, now what?" kind of way.

Reading the context and circumstances,
aware of what is happening
and alert to what is being called for,
standing aside
and allowing our response
to be evoked by the occasion
in ways appropriate to the occasion,
achieves miracles
while doing nothing miraculous at all.

–0–

05

Noise,
clatter and chatter,
complexity and complication,
trauma and drama,
diversion and distraction
disrupt our focus and concentration,
and prevent us from simply 
being present with what is present
with us,
here and now,
as servants of instinct and intuition,
urges, nudges, hunches, whims, inklings,
inspirations, revelations, realizations, etc.
in putting what needs to be done
together with how it needs to be done
to create a response appropriate to the occasion,
in each situation as it arises.

Stillness and silence are the operative requirements
for seeing/hearing/understanding/knowing/being/doing.
The louder we live,
and the more fragmented and disarrayed we are, 
the less likely we will be able
to offer what is called for,
when it is called for,
the way it is called for
in the time and place that is at hand.

Being anchored to our original nature,
with balance and harmony between that and
the context and circumstances of our life,
is the key to being who we are where we are.

And that is the essential requirement
for being fully alive in the time and place
of our living.

So diminish the noise, etc.
and increase the silence and stillness
for the work that is to be done.

01

In every now
we have no idea
of what is next.

In trying to arrange
what's next,
we step out of the flow
of the now,
which is the flow of time (kairos)
and place (dharma),
upset the natural expression of grace,
and operate as a rogue
predator in the here and now
of our living.

Better to live aligned 
with ourselves 
and with the moment,
and wait for the time to act
in the service
of what needs us to do it
with the gifts 
of our original nature
to serve and share,
in each situation 
as it arises. 

–0–

02

There are so many ways of not seeing
what we are looking at,
and misinterpreting what we are seeing,
and being wrong about 
what needs to be done in response,
and repeating all of the errors
in judgment and behavior,
in each situation that flows from
each moment,
that it is a wonder things are
as stable as they are.

We need to spend more time
sitting still,
being quiet,
reducing reactivity,
complexity
and noise,
and being compassionately,
non-judgmentally,
aware of every single thing
in each moment that is now,
seeing what is happening,
and being right about what is called for,
doing it
and being aware of the next moment
as it develops from this one.

That would transform our life,
and the world as we know it,
in about 2.5 moments.

Just try it.
See what a difference you can make
in practically no time at all,
just by responding appropriately
to what's happening now.

Moment-by-moment.

–0–

03

We have to see what we look at
and hear what we are listening to,
and interpret it correctly.

That is on us.

We are on our own here.

No one can tell us how to know what's what
in each situation as it arises.

We have to be right about what is important
and what needs to be done about it,
and do it,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
no matter what.
All our life long.

I say this a lot
because this is all that 
needs to be said.
And understood.
And done.
And no one can do it for us.
So all I can do 
is say it,
and say it,
and say it.

And when you hear it with understanding,
you get to say it,
and say it,
and say it,
because that is all you can do
to pass it along.
You can't make anybody hear it.

The idea of "making disciples"
is completely ridiculous.
We cannot make anyone see
what they are looking at.

See?

We can only say what we see.
And say it.
And say it.
And say it.

While working to see better
what we think we see.
And do better
what we think needs to be done about it.
All our life long.

No getting tired and quitting.
We are Sisyphus,
pushing his rock up the hill,
following it down the hill
(Or racing it to the bottom--
or hopping on and riding it down
like a logger might "ride" a log),
and rolling it back up the hill.

We say what we have to say
and do what we have to do,
on and on and on and on...
smiling, laughing and having
a good time with it all,
because, why not?

–0–

04

Tact is displaying just the right touch,
or saying just the right word,
in just the right way,
at just the right time. 

There is no better demonstration
of the Tao in action
than tactfulness being exercised
in the here and now of our experience.

Live tactfully!
Moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises.

That is the sine-qua-non
of a life well-lived.

–0–

01

I have only one favorite Zen story
(Zen is what happened when Buddhism met Taoism).
and I tell it frequently,
so if you have been with me a while,
bear with me here...

A Zen master and his disciple
were walking over a bridge
when the disciple asked,
"What is Zen?"

Whereupon the master picked up
the disciple and hurled him into
the river.

"There," shouted the master,
"That is water! 
Swim in it.
Bathe in it.
Drink it.
Or drown!
But DO NOT TALK ABOUT IT!
Because to talk about water
is to not know water!"

Nails it.

To talk about the Tao 
is to not know the Tao.

To talk about God
is to not know God.

To talk about love
is to not know love.

...religion,
...enlightenment,
...meditation,
...life,
...

Do not talk.
Do.

Start with the next thing
that needs to be done.
Don't talk about it.
Do it.
When it needs to be done.
The way it needs to be done.
Because it needs to be done.

And then do the next thing 
that needs to be done after that.

And so on.

For as long as you live.

That is all you need to do.
That is all there is to it.

No drama.
No talking.
Doing.

–0–

02

Instability and disharmony
have to be counter-balanced
with stability and harmony.

The Taoists of 500 BCE
put balance and harmony
at the top of the list,
along with living out of
our original nature.

They are our salvation
and "a very present help
in time of trouble."

We don't just make up
balance and harmony
out of the air.
They belong to
certain places and activities.

We have to go there,
do that.
We cannot just think them up,
or wish them into place.
We have to actively seek them out,
and place ourselves in their presence,
in their service,
doing the things that create peace
and produce balance and harmony,
in sync with our original nature.

What are the things 
that are most true to who we are?
That express us most accurately?
That exhibit us most clearly?
They exude balance and harmony
(Along with spirit, energy and vitality!).

Returning to them is 
returning to the core,
restoring our relationship
with the source.

Live from there,
in accord with that,
and it will be well with us
throughout our days,
no matter what is going on around us
that is out of our control
and beyond belief.

–0–

03

What keeps us going?

Where do we turn when we have no place to turn?

What is our ground,
our heart's deepest allegiance
and truest loyalty?

What would we do--
and keep on doing--
"without hope,
without witness,
without reward,"
(Doctor Who/Steven Moffat)?

Hold that close
and don't let it go.

Keep it before you 
as a guide
and true companion
through the deepest night.

Let it be for you
the driving force
behind your making 
Ulysses' words your own:
"I will persist and endure!
And when the heaving sea
has shaken my raft to pieces,
then I will swim!"

–0–

01

We divert ourselves 
from the truth of our life
by adding complexity and noise
in the form of diversions,
distractions,
entertainment,
busy-ness,
and immersion in the 10,000 things.

Interesting complexity
is still a diversion.
Beautiful noise
remains a distraction.
Interfering with our real business
of experiencing our experience,
engaging the silence,
exploring the drift of our soul,
the pull of our heart,
the interests of our mind,
the reality of our life
having a life of its own
and needing us to live it.

There are worlds within us
calling us to seek the treasures
they have waiting to be found.

In every situation 
and all circumstances,
inner space has more to offer
than outer space can begin to match--
and can match all of the chaos,
anguish, fear, grief, loss, sorrow,
and "the clashing rocks,"
and "the heaving waves of the wine-dark sea"
of the outer world,
with calming reassurance,
consoling presence,
guiding grace,
peaceful confidence,
grounding direction,
anchoring purpose
and the constant balancing
of a nuclear powered gyroscope
keeping us centered and focused on 
simply doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done
the way it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
day by day by day,
throughout the upheaval,
trauma and drama of our life.

With all that going for it,
you might think that
establishing and maintaining 
our relationship with our inner world
would be at the tip top of our list
of things that have to be done now.

When, in truth, it is the first thing that goes,
and the last thing we think of.

What a loss that is.
And so easily avoided and averted.

"Of all sad words of tongue or pen..."

–0–

02

We cannot establish and maintain
a salvific relationship
with the inner world
without adjusting/transforming
our relationship with the outer world.
Which isn't going to happen
until our outer world experience
becomes intolerable and undo-able.

People do not attend AA meetings
because they are fun and entertaining.

We have to reach the end of our rope
before we can change our mind 
about what is important--
and change the way we live
to incorporate it into our life.

If the work to enter/engage the inner world
doesn't interest you today,
keep it in mind.
Things are always changing.
"Shift happens."
And the inner world will be there
when you need it,
if you aren't hijacked by the easier escapes
offered by drugs and alcohol--
which provide additional incentive
to seek out the inner world
and commit to its requirements
for life and being.

The doorway/threshold/portal/portkey
is always with us,
right here, right now.
And is as easy as remembering your breathing
while being still and quiet.

You can do that in a crowd
or in the privacy of your own room.
On a park bench
or walking along a stretch of beach.

We can make anywhere we are still and quiet
just by attending our breathing
and closing off the world.

The world comes immediately to mind.
No place is as noisy as the inside of your mind.
The preferred response is straight out of
Rumi's "The Guesthouse" (Google it),
welcoming all of the clatter and banging
without engaging any of it--
without emotional response to it--
just watching,
just seeing,
just knowing,
but not being swept away by it,
anchored by your breathing 
to what you are doing here and now,
waiting for "the mud to settle
and the water to clear."

Patience here is the key.
We cannot hurry the process
of settling the mud and clearing the water.
We only wait, watching.

The waiting and watching 
may be extended over time.
You may have to leave the stillness and silence
and return to it again and again
waiting for the mud to settle and the water to clear.
Your task is to do that,
watching, waiting and breathing.

Eventually "shift happens,"
and you begin to notice things--
ideas, images, realizations--
arising/emerging/occurring/appearing
out of the silence
with a special/unique value.
These are the "strange attractors"
that "catch your eye"
and invite exploration.

If you were on a vision quest,
these would be the "visitors"
offering guidance and direction
at this particular time and place in your life,
and calling you to see where they lead,
like the white rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland,"
winking at you and flashing around a corner
or down the rabbit hole.

You have to be attuned to the difference
between the normal noise and clutter
that occupies the silence,
and these sudden appearances
of messengers from "out of the blue."

Knowing when to "follow,"
and when to return to your breathing,
is essential knowing,
and is the tipping point
between more of the same old same old,
and the wild adventure of being alive.

This is the initial evidence
of there being something to
this inner world business,
and encouragement for you
to devote time and attention 
to other areas of engagement/interface
with the inner world.

Those areas include you nighttime dreams
and your daytime flights of fancy/fantasy,
your moods,
your intuition, instincts, imagination,
your obsessions and compulsions,
your recurring memories, thoughts, ideas,
etc.

Become aware of all of your mental activity
as a treasure-trove of avenues to exploration
and adventure.

Do not discount/dismiss/disregard/ignore anything--
and catch yourself doing it when you are tempted to,
and listen there,
look there,
poke around there...

"The stone the builders reject," you know,
"becomes the chief cornerstone."

Notice everything.
See what it has to offer,
and how you respond
to what you think it might be saying.

"Everything is grist for the mill,"
and we are milling ourselves here--
our relationship with ourselves.
And the future hangs in the balance,
with everything at stake
on how attuned we are,
and how attentive we can be
to what is going on 
on all levels/frequencies of awareness,
moment by moment,
day by day.

–0–

03

We are responsible for our own
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy, vitality.

But no one explains this to us,
and very few prepare us to be so,
by modeling for us
what these terms mean and appear.

From the beginning we all 
are unable to undertake,
an much less, achieve,
the fundamental characteristics/qualities
of human being-hood.

And the world is the mess it is
because of it.

How many people do you know,
or know of,
who dependably exhibits
balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy, vitality?

Helen Keller, comes to mind for me.
And Eleanor Roosevelt
under the "know of" category.
There are 26 in the "know" column,
and I won't embarrass them by naming them
(I will say more than half are women,
and I am not related to any.

We are on our own
in figuring out the basics
and working them into our life.
"Good luck,"
as they say,
"with that!"

It comes down to what we do
and how we do it,
with what is in it for us
not even coming into the picture.

We live without an eye on 
what is in it for us.

Jesus proclaims that with every word and deed.

And it is the primary focus of life in the world.
In this world,
it is all about what's in it for us--
for every living thing.

It is to be different with human beings.
We are equipped to have what we need
to find what we need,
but we are not designed to sock it in
and store it away.

We all have to live out of 
the basic awareness of what
constitutes enough,
and keep one eye on that
as we move on the scale 
between not enough and too much,
and with the time not spent
on making our "ends meet,"
we devote ourselves to the task
of doing what needs to be done,
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,
no matter what.

With balance and harmony,
sincerity and integrity,
spirit, energy and vitality,
in each situation as it rises,
all our life long.

–0–

01

The phrase, 
"a meeting of the minds"
suggests the possibility of
a communion of comprehension,
realization, recognition,
understanding, oneness,
wholeness, confirmation, 
union, goodwill... 

Which hinges on trust,
openness and willingness
to receive well the other--
with no agenda for the other--
but with a common agenda
of mutual benevolence,
respect, kindness, 
compassion and generosity.

AA meetings and sports teams
create atmospheres where
meetings of the minds can 
take place on a regular,
recurring basis,
built around common goals
and mutual trust,
and the communal experience
often stays with the participants
long after their time together ends.

Friendships, family connections
and psychotherapy relationships
can foster this sense of mutuality
and oneness,
and it exists as a possibility
for all of us who are able 
to be present, open and receptive
to others--
without anything to gain or lose,
and with an interest in sharing 
our interests 
and exploring those of someone else.

How long has it been?
How long must it be?

–0–

02

"Where do you turn 
when you have nowhere to turn?"
Joseph Campbell said the answer
to that question tells you
what your grounding/center/core myth is.

I go to the silence.
Into the silence.
And wait for instructions.
For guidance.
For direction.

I believe in the silence.
I hail from the silence,
and am headed back to the silence.
The silence is home.
Home for my soul.
Home of my soul.
I am a child of the silence.

These words?
They are gifts from the silence.

The silence is all we need.
Is everything we need.
It is with us always,
to the end of our days,
and beyond.

If you ever miss me,
you can find me in the silence.
It's all there,
waiting.

It's all the consolation I know of.
All the comfort I need.
We all find our way there eventually--
and we take our place in the company
of our kin,
our kind,
the bearers of grace and mercy
everlasting,
at the heart of life and being,
the source of all that is,
or has been, 
or will be.

–0–

03

We cannot hurry growing up,
but we can postpone it indefinitely,
and by doing so,
we fail to live our life.

We only go through the motions of living,
creating pain by avoiding pain.
That's the way it works with pain.
"We meet our pain
on the road we take to escape it."

Following the age-old Law of Life
by doing what needs to be done
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,
no matter what
will grow us up as quickly
as we can grow up--
but the journey is never finished,
and old people feel as though
they are only beginning the process.

Our life is geared to growing us up,
and each stage of the developmental process
has its own way of highlighting 
the insufficiencies in our perspective
and attitude
in calling us to take the next step
along the way.

So, we stand ourselves up
and step ourselves forward
to meet what is coming through the door--
without expectation or opinion--
in doing what the moment calls for
with the gifts/daemon/virtues/specialties
that are ours to serve and to share
throughout each day
to the end of our days.