04

Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to God."

And, Jesus said, "Do not throw your pearls before swine."

And, Jesus said, "Judge not, that you may be not judged."

What would Jesus do?

Whatever Jesus would do,
it would likely be contradicted
by something else Jesus would do.

Like telling the story of the Prodigal Son,
and then cursing a fig tree
for not bearing fruit out of season!!!

So, what I'm saying about all of this is this:
Decide for yourself what you are going to do
in each situation as it arises,
and do it--
and use what happens then
as food for thought
in deciding what you are going to do
in the next situation as it arises.

Do not follow a recipe book of what to do when!
No maps! No maps!
No path! No path!
Each moment is a fresh start.
Decide what you are going to do there
based on your cumulative experience
with all the moments that have gone before!

Trust yourself to follow the impulse of your nature,
and let that be that.
Use the information you glean
from that experience to collect 
as grist for the mill
for the next moment.

We are milling awareness, here!
We are milling maturity!
We are milling grace and compassion--
for ourselves as much as for anyone else!

Living is the lesson, 
life is the teacher.

Do what you would do
and let that deepen, expand, enlarge
your response potential
in the next moment.

You be your own authority
in deciding how you live your life
and determining what to do in each situation.
Give it your best effort,
and make the necessary adjustments
to meet the next situation.

That is your life plan.
Beat it if you can.

–0–

03

Our role is not to choreograph life,
willing things into place,
pushing,
shoving,
insisting,
demanding,
ordering,
directing,
compelling,
threatening,
serving our way,
imposing our agenda...

Our role is to fold into life,
to merge with the current,
to become one with the flow,
to let things be
waiting for the right time
to act in doing what is called for,
and being a steady influence
over time.

Like water, finding its way,
not forcing it,
wearing rock away
to create the Grand Canyon
with its unrelenting presence,
moment-by-moment,
day-by-day.

In accord with the Tao,
integrating yin and yang,
transforming the landscape,
changing the world,
doing nothing
in the special way
water has
of being water.

–0–

02

We have to live the kind of life
that allows us to be who we are.

There has to be a close correspondence
between how we live
and who we are.
When there is too much dissonance,
we sacrifice our original nature,
our natural self,
for the sake of who our lived environment
requires us to be.

Too much "civilization"--
too many "Thou Shalts"--
and we are living in The Wasteland
of Lost Souls,
looking for a way back to Eden.

The way back to Eden
is the return to "the face that was ours
before we were born."

What is the impulse of our nature?
How are we restraining ourselves
in deference to our surroundings?
How is our life inhibiting our ability--
our freedom--
to live the life that is crying out
to be lived?

Everywhere there is striving and forcing,
contriving and conniving,
seeking and serving our way
in pursuit of what we want now!

Where do we simply sit,
waiting quietly
"in a perpetual state of centeredness
in undirected alertness,"
watching for things to open up
"of themselves,
according to their nature"
(Quotes from Joseph Campbell),
in order that we might act
in accordance with the rhythm
of time and place,
here and now,
with no concern for,
or attachment to,
the outcome?

Where do we merely look
to see where we might best
bring what we have to offer
in response to what is being called for
moment-by-moment?

Always, everywhere, there is only
doing this to get that,
or to keep from losing that.
Never just to act innocently,
nobly,
"not missing the moment of life,"
allowing "life to be lived of itself"
like dancers at one with the music,
disappearing into the moment,
stepping aside,
allowing the dance to be danced 
through them
(Quotes from Joseph Campbell).

The return to Eden
is the return to the innocence 
of the time before contrivance 
and expediency.

As Campbell said, "What is keeping us
out of the Garden (of Eden) is not
the jealousy or wrath of any god,
but our own instinctive attachment
to what we take to be our lives."

And as Jesus said, "Whoever seeks
to save their life will lose it,
but whoever loses their life
(in the service of what is called for
moment-by-moment)
will find it."

–0–

01

Sincerity and self-transparency
are the basic building blocks
of a true human being.

Which is to say that 
truth is fundamental and foundational
for a true human being.

Truth is integrity,
is integration,
is Yin/Yang,
is Tao
is living aligned with ourselves,
in accord with the Tao,
at one with who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
here and now.

No duplicity.
No duality.
No denial.
No pretense.
No hidden agendas.
No ulterior motives.
No mixed signals.
No gaming.
No pretending.

Who we are is who we are.
Across all situations
and circumstances.
times and places.

We don't go 
were we aren't welcome
to be who we are.
Where appearances
don't express/exhibit realities.
Where the visible
conceals the invisible.
And the truth is not
how it is presented to be.

The life of a true human being
turns life as it is being lived
upside down.

Do we have what it takes 
to be who we are?

What would have to change
about our life
for us to be able to live in ways
that are true to ourselves?
That are in the flow?
That are on the beam?
That are integral exhibitions
and identical incarnations 
of the values and virtues,
vitality and spirit
of who we are?

04

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara 
practiced "benevolence without purpose"
(Joseph Campbell).

He wasn't in it for what 
he could get out of it.
Just being what was needed,
just doing what was called for,
just seeing what was happening
and knowing how to respond to it,
"participating in the nature of things"
for the good of all
in harmony with all,
balanced,
not stretching for this,
striving for that,
at one with the need of the moment,
ready to act spontaneously
when the time for action arises,
without attachment,
preference,
or opinion,
"from the impulse of one's nature"
(Campbell quotes from Myths to Live By).

Avalokiteśvara in the art of India
is always masculine,
but as the Chinese goddess of mercy,
she is Kuan-yin,
and Kwannon in Japan

Becoming the Bodhisattva,
becoming the Buddha,
becoming the Kuan-yin,
becoming the Kwannon,
becoming the Christ,
we participate in the moment, 
in each moment,
with nothing to gain or to lose,
but with something to offer,
for the sake of the moment,
like we might play a game
of keeping a beach ball in the air,
everyone participating as they are able,
doing their part to save the ball
from touching the ground,
with no concern for the fruits of the action,
just the joy of connecting
with all others
in the flight of the ball.

Enter life each day
as one would enter such a game,
freely, at ease, attentive, playfully,
alert and ready for anything,
all day.

–0–

03

To act as one must
without attachment
to the outcome of one's action
is to do what we have come to do
with nothing in it for us.

This is not impersonal,
robotic,
but highly personal--
our entire person is invested
in the act for which we have been born!
We are one with our action!

"What I do is me--
for that I came!"
declares the poet
(Gerard Manley Hopkins).

The poem is the poet!
The poet is the poem!
The dance is the dancer!
The dancer is the dance!

We are one with our life
when we live with our heart
thoroughly invested in what we do!

Ah, but, there's the problem.
Who is so invested these days?
What we do is out of boredom,
not out of a passionate investment
in the poem,
in the dance,
of pure being-in-the-world!

We don't know what that means.
Are we even interested in finding out?

We have this life,
the most precious gift
we could hope to receive,
and we leave it hanging in the closet
while we wile away the hours
in trivial pursuits
until the whistle blows
and the lights go out.

What are we doing with the time?
What are we doing with our life?

What is ours to do with the time?
What is ours to do with our life?

What are we missing?
What hints and guidance and directives
do we walk by unknowing every day?
What is our time screaming for us to do?
What is our life dying for us to live?
Why don't we care about that?
Why aren't we passionately intense
in our search for the truth
of who we are
and what is ours to do?

–0–

02

Focusing on what needs to be done
and doing it when it needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
how it needs to be done
for as long as it needs to be done,
and then focusing on what needs to be done,
etc.
through all of the times and places
of our life
is the key to living a long 
and meaningful life.

If you don't know,
or can't decide,
what needs to be done,
sit down and wait
for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

Soon enough you will
have to use the toilet. 
That will need to be done.
Do it,
and then wait to see
what needs to be done
after that.

What needs to be done
is a question of value,
of what matters,
of what is important,
of what is worth our time,
of how we are going to spend our life.

At the bottom,
this is a question of faith.
We believe this, or that, is important.
We take it on faith
that this, or that, is important.
We can't prove that it is,
but it is important to us,
here and now.
We believe it to be so,
and we are going to act as though it is.
And that is all the faith we need,
here and now,
moment to moment, 
day by day,
all our life long.

We keep faith with ourselves.
We live in good faith with one another.
Doing what we believe to be important.

What would we live for?
What would we die for?
What would we go to hell for?
We take all of this on faith.
We are faith based.
Everything we do is based
on our faith in it,
on our faith that it is worth doing,
because we say so.

On our faith in our own judgment.
In our own sense of what matters.
In our own sense of direction.
Our own sense of value.

At the bottom, we believe in ourselves.

And, even if we say, "Nothing matters!"
We take that on faith.
We believe in ourselves 
to believe that nothing is worth believing in.
We take our word for it.
And live as though we know 
what we are talking about.

We have no choice but to believe in ourselves,
to believe what we say.

That being the case,
why not say things that are helpful?
Why not not say things that are harmful?

Why not believe things
that are going to make a difference
for the good?

Why not make cookies?
Or pizza?
Or spaghetti?
Or bread pudding?
And invite someone over for lunch?

–0–

01

 I just dropped in to say it is very appropriate and proper to be overwhelmed when what you are dealing with is overwhelming! 
 
 It would also be appropriate and proper, to call time-out for fifteen minutes every hour for an overwhelmed break. 
 
 Sit down under a blanket and cry, or just stare at the wall, or the floor, for 15 minutes, and then get back to work in the midst of the overwhelming.
 
 And, in response to “So what? Why try? Who cares? Why good will it do? What difference does it make? What’s the use?” repeat this:
 
 It’s all useless, hopeless, pointless, insane, stupid, absurd and coming to a very bad end (Everyone dies in the end)—and, how we live in the meantime makes all the difference.
 
 We make all the difference in each other’s life, in the life of the world, by the way we live moment-to-moment, day-by-day, in each situation as it arises. 
 
 If you are going to take anything on faith, take this on faith, and live as though it is so, because it is!
 
 And, coming to life, coming alive, lighting up in the darkness is what we do best. 
 
 That’s where we come in to do our thing, anyway, nevertheless, even so!
 
 We do that by turning the tables on “So what? Why try? etc.” by saying so what? to So what? Why not try? to Why try? I’m going to do this whether it does any good or not! to why try?
 
 The people who say, “Nothing matters anymore!” say it in a way that suggests that it matters that nothing matters.  
 
 If nothing mattered, it wouldn’t matter that nothing mattered, and everyone would go right on with their life as though it mattered.
 
 So, we go right on with our life as though it matters. 
 
 So what (to “So what?”) if it doesn’t matter? 
 
 If we all live as though it matters, it may as well matter because we are going to live as though it does, anyway, nevertheless, even so!
 
 Besides that, to a child with an ice cream cone it would be ridiculous to suggest that nothing matters. The child is still going to enjoy the ice cream. So find what you enjoy whether it matters or not, and do that. 
 
 Matters to whom? Matters how, in what way? If it matters that nothing matters, then something matters, and if one thing matters, maybe two things matter, so find the other thing, and that will be two things, and maybe there is a third, and before you know it, a lot of things matter, and it doesn’t matter that some things don’t matter, so so what to “So what?”
 
 The blind Greek poet had Ulysses say in “The Odyssey,” “I will survive and endure! And when the heaving sea has shaken my raft to pieces, then I will SWIM!”
 
 So at the end of fifteen minutes, say to no one in particular, “Okay! Time’s up! Let’s go swimming!”
 
 And do it again, if need be, in 45 minutes.
 
 In the meantime, let’s go swimming!
 

02

We have to develop and maintain
our relationship with our core--
the old Taoists referred to it as
our original nature.
It's our essence,
our essential self,
who we are

–0–

01

We think in terms of freedom from all the things
that keep us from being free
to do what we want--
as though having what we want
is the solution to all of our problems ever.

Here is the irony:
We talk about "freedom from want,"
but we do not mean from wanting,
but from going without,
from being without the things we want!

We need to be free from wanting!

What does wanting know?
When has wanting ever been satisfied?
When has anyone ever been at the place
of having nothing else to want?

Wanting is insatiable,
voracious,
gluttonous,
greedy,
ravenous
unending
forever and always.

We can never have enough
to not want more.

We have it right,
though we do not know what we are saying.
We are desperately seeking
freedom from want!

We get their by being mindfully,
compassionately, aware
of our situation,
knowing what's what
and what needs to be done about it
and doing it.

What needs to be done about it
is shifting our perspective from
having/getting to
doing/being-
shifting our perspective from
freedom from to
freedom for.

Freedom is for 
(in the words of Joseph Campbell)
"For something--
something fresh and new:
a spontaneous act"!

The old Taoists have talked about this
from the beginning,
and have lived as models of what
they were talking about,
incarnating opposites
and exhibiting their original nature
in responding to what is called for
in the present moment,
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all their life long.

They have danced before us
from 5,000 years before Christ,
who took up the dance 2,000 years ago,
calling us to be free for doing 
what is called for here and now,
no, here and now,
no, here and now...forever.

They all call us to do what is called for,
and live as children at play,
doing what the play requires
in the spirit of those who take
not being serious seriously
and give themselves to the part
they are playing in the play,
and play it to the hilt,
being what is called for,
doing what is needed,
moment-by-moment,
living spontaneously in response
to here and now,
no, here and now, 
no, here and now...
inventing new-and-appropriate responses
to fit every occasion,
without worrying about Thou Shalt
in doing what needs to be done,
anyway, nevertheless, even so,
doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
where it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done
forever.

Or, as Campbell put it:

"We are to carry the point of view and spirit of humans-the-players (Homo ludens) back into life--as in the play of children, where, undaunted by the banal actualities of life's meager possibilities, the spontaneous impulse of the spirit to identify itself with something other than itself for the sheer delight of play, transubstantiates the world, in which, actually, after all, things are not quite as real or permanent, terrible, important, or logical as they seem" (Primitive Mythology (The Masks of God, Book One).

If we live to get that down,
we will be the Christ,
the Buddha,
and all the Taoists before them,
and after them,
and what a world it will be then!

03

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE BELIEVE!!!
Believe it or not.
That doesn't matter either.

What matters is what we do.
What matters is how we live our life.

Believe anything you want
as long as it
enables you to do what is needed,
what is called for,
when it is needed,
where it is needed,
the way it is needed,
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all your life long.

When people ask me if I'm a Christian,
I say, "Unconditionally!"
And go on to explain that by saying,
"That means no strings attached,
no conditions to be met,
no expectations to live up to,
in a word: No Theology!"

Of course, they protest:
"But you can't be a Christian 
without theology!"
And, of course, I reply,
"Of course you can.
Jesus didn't peddle theology.
He told people what to do:
Love your enemies.
Love your neighbor.
Love one another.
Love yourself.
No theology.
Believe whatever you feel like believing.
Just do what is called for,
when it is called for,
where it is called for,
the way it is called for,
and let that be that."

People like theology 
because they can talk about it
without doing anything.
But when something needs doing,
there is no talking about doing it.
There is only doing it or not doing it.

No talking allowed.

–0–

02

We are never more than
a slight perspective shift away
from seeing all things new.

It is all an optical illusion.

We are looking at it like this
and we need to look at it like that.

Whatever is is what we say it is.
What we say it is is a function
of how we are looking at it.

If we sit with it,
looking at it,
wondering what else is there,
how else we might see it,
what different ways of interpreting it
we can come up with...
we create cracks
in our construct
where the light can shine through.

We are thinking about it like this
and we need to think about it like that.

Write down how things are,
and ponder the list,
looking for ways a new hermeneutic 
can transform your world.

It is all right there,
waiting to be seen.
We have the eyes.
We only need to start 
using them differently.

–0–

01

What does wanting know?
It knows what it wants,
but it doesn't know what
it ought to want.

It knows how to want
what it wants,
but it doesn't know
how to want
what it ought to want.

It doesn't know
what is worth wanting.
What is worth dying for.
What is worth going to hell for.

Indiscriminate,
uneducated,
directionless,
pointless,
aimless,
unending,
everlasting
wanting
wanders through the wasteland
of emptiness
wanting everything,
certain that what it wants
is only one major purchase away.

Freedom from our bondage to wanting
is as simple as stopping it.

Replace wanting with needing.

What do you need to do
what needs you to do it?
What needs doing?
What is called for
in each situation as it arises?

What are your gifts?
Your specialties?
Your virtues?
Where are they needed?

What is your life asking of you?
What does your life need from you?
Begin making inquiries.

"What do you (your life) need from me
here, now?"
"How can I be of help to you,
here, now?"

Stop thinking about wants.
Start thinking about needs.

What needs to be done?
What do you need to do it?

A meaningful life is found
in answering those questions
throughout each day.

04

We are not free to want just anything.
We are bound to want what we want
whether we want to or not.

We live in bondage to our wants
as slaves to their master.

Freedom is found in freely doing what is called for
whether we want to or not.

Since we are already wanting what we want,
whether we want to or not,
doing what is called for
whether we want to or not,
is a simple matter of shifting loyalties.
Wanting to has nothing to do with anything.

If the baby's diaper needs to be changed,
we change the diaper.
If the dog needs to go out for walk,
we take the dog for a walk.
If it is raining,
we walk in the rain.

What does the situation require?
That is what we do.
In the right way.
At the right time.
Exactly as it ought to be done.

Forget what you want.
Begin looking for what
needs you to do it.
Want that,
whether you want it or not.
Do that.
And all that comes after that.

This is a shift that will
transform your life,
and change the world.

–0–

03

It comes down to meeting the moment
the way the moment needs to be met--
the way the moment needs us to meet it--
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

We live to do right by the moment
we are living
in every moment.

Baseball teams that do that
more often than other baseball teams
tend to win the World Series.

The number of baseball teams
that don't do that
are a testimony to how difficult it is to do.
But, who needs a testimony?
We know how difficult it is to do!

How many moments are in a day?
How many of those do we do right by,
day after day?
What happens to keep that from happening
in every moment?

What interferes with our ability
to do right by the moment,
every moment?

Pay attention to your moments.
See what is stopping you 
from doing right by those
you fail to do right by.

–0–

02

We live in each moment
to redeem and atone for
the ways we have lived
in all previous moments.

And, if that is a bit of an overstatement,
it isn't too much of one.

Another way of stating the same thing
is to say, "We live to get better--
to do better-
to improve.
To become more like we need to be
than we are.
To be more of what the situation 
needs us to be
than we have been thus far."

Any way we say it,
it comes down to redemption and atonement.

Living redemptively 
is living consciously--
living mindfully,
compassionately,
aware of what is called for
here and now,
and how best to respond to 
what is needed,
moment-by-moment.

The redemptive, atoning, act
is spontaneous sincerity,
at one with the music of the moment.

We dance with each situation as it arises.
How well we do that tells the tale--
to that point--
and provides us with what we need
to do it better in the next situation as it arises,
day by day,
throughout our life.

–0–

01

Being right about what is called for
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
is all that it takes.

All it takes to do what it takes
is to enter each situation as it arises
without will,
desire,
preference,
or opinion
beyond seeing and doing 
what is called for,
regardless of the implications
for us personally.

The only thing standing between us
and being right about what is called for
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
is us.

What are we going to do about that?

03

We are never far away from,
"Here we are.
Now what?"
But, we are rarely there 
long enough.

We rush past "Now what?"
to "Anywhere But THIS!"

It's the not-knowing we despise.
Or fear.
Or despise because we fear.

Not-knowing is the worst imaginable torture.

We are here, now
because we could not bear the pain
of all of the "Now what's?"
in our past,
and we jumped for the first possible
(The worst possible)
way out of there,
to where we did not care--
it had to be better than there.
Not-knowing what.
Not-knowing anything.

In in all of the places like those
remaining in the time left for living,
we have to wait,
bearing the pain 
of not-knowing,
for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

We have to wait
to get a feel for the flow,
for the drift of the current of life,
for the movement of pace and timing,
here at the transition point--
"the still point
of the turning world"
(T. S. Eliot).

What is leading us,
calling us,
asking us to listen,
to feel
in our body
the shift happening,
meeting circumstances,
looking for the door to open,
waiting for the door?

How long can we wait for the door
to open?
Before we have to do something,
door or no door,
even if it is wrong?

How long do we have?
How long can we wait?

We owe it to ourselves
to find out.

–0–

02

The inner guides are easily dismissed,
discounted,
disregarded,
denied,
rejected,
ignored,
forsaken,
abandoned,
castaway.

Their essential strength
is their refusal to quit
or withdraw.

They are forever 
calling us to wake up,
grow up,
stand up,
face up,
square up
and meet the moment
every day.

Regardless of how we 
have treated them
in every moment prior
to this one,
they are right there,
right here,
now,
offering what they have to give
in terms of wisdom
and courage,
direction
and hope.

If we are breathing
there is still a chance
of doing 
the right thing
in the right place
at the right time
in the right way--
redeeming and atoning for
all the other moments
we met with less
than the best we had to offer.

Here is another now
needing what we have to give.
The guides are ready and willing.
We only have to sit still
and be quiet
and listen
and look
and wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear--
for all of the noise
of the 10,000 things
to shift to the background,
and the whispers
of the still, small, persistent voices
to be felt, heard, sensed and seen.

Our place is to clear a space
for the guides to speak
with feelings, sensing, 
realizing, knowing,
beckoning, urging, 
calling, compelling...
and then to follow
in a "thy will, not mine
be done" kind of way.

Moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises,
seeking the rhythm,
finding the flow,
of balance and harmony,
day-by-day.

–0–

01

Doing the right thing
in the right place
at the right time
in the right way
requires us to be present
with what is present with us,
to know what's what
and what is called for
in the unrelenting service
to Freedom!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!
in light of the true good 
of the whole
in each situation 
as it arises.

This is where our focus 
needs to be,
where our attention 
needs to be,
where our concentration
needs to be,
where our devotion,
allegiance,
duty
and utmost concern 
need to be.

Moment-by-moment
the questions are,
"What is happening?
What is called for?
What needs to be done about it?
How can I help the sitution
for the good of the situation?"

Do you have any sense
that this is being done
anywhere?
At any time?

How about we letting
it start with us,
right here,
right now?

02

Doing the right thing,
in the right place,
at the right time,
in the right way
is all there is to it,
but. 
Who is to say what "right" is?
We are!
And, there is a catch:
We have to be right about it.

The trick is that "right"
cannot be spelled out,
defined,
explained,
said,
told,
even known before hand--
before the moment of its doing!

Jesus said, "The spirit is like the wind
blowing where it will."

This means that not even the spirit 
knows what it will do next.
"It all depends upon"
the circumstances,
the time and place,
the situation,
the here and now
of the moment of decision.

What is called for?
Do that!

In the moment of acting
within the field of action
everybody knows what is right
and what is wrong--
but are they right about it?
Only time will tell.

In the meantime,
we have to trust ourselves
to the time that is at hand
and make our best guess
regarding what is called for
and how to respond to it.

The good part of this process
is that we sometimes get the chance
of redeeming what we do
in this moment
in the very next moment.

And sometimes we don't.

We have to live with that.

The pitcher who makes 
the wrong pitch
in the bottom of the ninth
of the seventh game 
of the World Series
has to live with it forever.

So does the first baseman
who lets the would-be final out
roll under his glove.

Our lives have too many lost moments
that changed everything,
and we have to live with it--
hoping to do better
in all the moments yet to be.

–0–

01

People sometimes wonder
if I am a Christian.

Having retired after spending
forty years and six months
as a minister
in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
I'm ready for the question.

My answer comes in two forms.

1) "Unconditionally!"
2) "In exactly the same way
that Jesus was a Christian!"

A third response would do as well:

"Forest Gump might say,
'Christian is as Christian does!'"

The test of anyone's faith 
in anything
is the degree to which
their faith is evident
in their life.

We do not Believe In anything
we can live without.

I believe completely,
totally,
fully,
undoubtedly,
absolutely,
etc.
that Jesus would join me
in embracing
the unequivocal truth
of the statement:

"Live to do the right thing
in the right place
at the right time
in the right way
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises,
all your life long,
and let that be that."

Jesus and I believe
that if everyone believed and did that,
the world would be transformed,
and the fullness of life
would be a blessing and a grace
upon every living thing.