I have faith in my intuitive ability
to know what's what and what is called for
and what needs to be done about it,
in each situation as it arises--not by thinking about it,
but by not thinking at all,
and simply trusting myself to drop into the emptiness-stillness-silence, waiting for knowing to arise on its own accord from the impulse of my original nature to guide me in acting spontaneously in response to the moment and doing what needs to be done, when, where and how it needs to be done in each situation as it arises, throughout the time left for living.

Living intuitively out of the silence is grounded in not wanting what I want to happen, but waiting to see what does happen and what I do on response. Imposing may way on my life generates forces at odds with the flow of life resulting in the production of heaving waves upon the wine-dark sea, requiring a lot of emptiness-stillness-silence to return things to peaceful abiding  here, now.

Which is the way of the Buddha and the Christ and their kin and ilk. 

I have recently updated my eBooks on Amazon Kindle, "The Tao of Jesus V" and "A Handbook for The Spiritual Journey II." I enjoyed writing, and enjoy reading, both books, and am sure I will not do better in what remains of my time left for living.

This Trump mess sullies what remains of my time, but I look at as a challenge worthy of the best of us to stand in the midst of the junk Trump is and is generating, and to look at it as a resplendent opportunity to rise to the occasion and allow it to be for us as the Cyclops was for Ulysses.

Just as Joseph Campbell said, "It took the Cyclops to bring out the hero in Ulysses, so it may well take Trump to bring out the hero in each of us--at the very least, he is well suited to bring out the best we have to offer in dealing with him and his junk as they call to be dealt with.

That will certainly spice things up for the remainder of our days. And, I think that in looking back on it from "the other side," we will be proud of the ways we dealt with the challenge, and the way we went out on a note we never would have been able to hit otherwise.

Taking stock is a meditative practice
of dropping into the emptiness-stillness-silence
on a daily basis throughout the day,
to tune in, turn on and realize what' what,
here, now, and what that calls for,
and what needs to happen in response,
when, where and how,
align ourselves with the direction and flow
of our life all day long.

I miss the Bog Garden. 
I lived about a mile away
for about 13 years,
and moved away in 2013.
And don't need to go back.

I'm funny that way.
That was then, this is now.
I don't go back.
One of my favorite idiosyncrasies.
Which I do not understand,
but I recognize and honor
as a "Me Thing."
It is Who I Am.

There are things I do 
and things I don't do.
Things I am,
and things I am not.

I know where my lines lie.
That is one of the things 
I like best about me.
Knowing where I stop and start.

Don't try to get me to change 
the oil in your car,
or to go horseback riding with you,
or go dancing with you.
Or swimming.
The list is long. 

I enjoy sitting looking out the window.
And asking questions.
And walking around,
looking for what catches my eye.
I have an abundance of curiosity.
And patience.

My favorite thing is to sit
in emptiness/stillness/silence
awash in the things that arise within.

Doing things well is not doing things perfectly.
Perfect is a steady state of being--
and is a matter of opinion.
All perfect things are surpassed in time.
Decay is perfection's archenemy,
and always has the last word.

Doing things well is the artists' aim,
and the individual artist is the only one who knows
when "well enough" has been achieved.

Leaving us with the privilege of determining 
when our life attains satisfactory status.
The only one we have to please is us.

My heart breaks easily these days. 
The weight of life perhaps,
or the anguish brought on by the flippant manner
of MAGA and Trump and their disregard for the sacred
nature of this country and the values it has stood for
from its founding only to to be dishonored, dismissed,
disregarded and sold to the highest bidder. And they have no shame. No honor. No nobility. No concern for what they 
have done and are doing. They have no character, no virtues
combined, but are too shallow to splash even as a collective.
And are a wonderful example of the cheap nature of those 
who think money is an accurate measure of a person's value.

I don't care what happens when I die,
and I cannot imagine why it matters.
Here I am, now what? 
Is the only question that concerns me.
What is being asked of me right here, right now?
What am I being called to do?

If I can get that right,
and do what needs me to do it,
when, where and how it needs me to do it,
I'll have it made.
For now.
After that?
More of the same until I die.
And after that?
I do not care.

Knots in a rope.
Waves on the sea.
Clouds in the sky...

Untie the knots, we still have the rope,
Disappear the waves, we still have the sea.
Remove the clouds, the sky remains.

When I'm gone life goes on.
What becomes of me has no impact,
though my absence may have one,
there is nothing I can do about that.
And I am not going to be bothered by it
here and now.

And you?

I play a game with myself
where I invite God to live my life.
I disappear and my projection of God takes over.
I can become absorbed in the role,
and enjoy seeing/doing things 
from the standpoint of my idea of God.
It definitely uplifts my game.

I encourage you to give it a go.
See how your idea of God would do you.

Our present life situation is exactly what we need
to bring us forth to meet the world as the world needs
us to meet it.

This is the magic at work in our lives.

Our need to be who we are meshes perfectly
with the world's deepest need in each here, now
that comes along.

We are precisely the answer the cosmos is looking for
in the present moment of our life.

And this is true in every moment of our life.

It only takes emptying ourselves of all thoughts/emotions/memories/etc.
and sitting quietly in the silence to know that it is so.

We are what the moment needs.

The moment waits for us to realize that 
and stand up and meet the moment.
Doing the thing that is called for,
where, it is called for,
when it is called for,
how it is called for,
moment after moment.

That's all the Buddha did.
That's all Jesus did.
That's all everyone who did it right did.

Why hold back?
We have everything it takes.
Let's go!

Everyone has a different idea of how things ought to be.
People who think they know best and must be pleased 
are a blight upon the rest of humankind.
All voices need to be heard but.
The voices that seem to be listened to
are the voices with money and/or who are insistent, loud, and ever-present, refusing to go away.
They want to make the rules and force them to be observed.
Slighting generally always the poor, the mentally/physically impaired, the marginalized of society, and those who generally
are "on the outside looking in."

The people "on the margins" need people to stand with them there. To see them and help them to feel seen in a way that cares about them and makes them welcome.

Father Greg Boyle has some excellent videos about being with people on the margins. An internet search for his name will bring him into our life in a way that brings people on the margins into our life, making life around the circle of human kind a better life on a lot of levels in a lot of ways.

We could spend our time in worse ways.

The Buddha died,  
nothing changed.

Jesus died,
nothing changed.

Everyone dies.
Nothing changes.

All of the changes 
that have been made--
and there be multitudes,
from the caves to the high rises,
from clubs to nuclear warheads--
have changed nothing.

Everyone who dies
lives in the service of something.
For what?
More people are destitute today
than were destitute on the first day.
More people are homeless.
And what does "hope" mean?
Do we have more reason to be "hopeful" today
than any day?
What do we hope for today
that hasn't been hoped for every day?

All this being said,
In light of what do we live?
I suggest these words as values, aims, intentions
to live by and for, serving with our life always:

Authenticity.
Integrity.
Truth.
Equality.
Justice.
Liberty.
Nobility.
Honor.
Kindness.
Compassion.
Gentle heartedness. 
Trustworthiness.
Sincerity.
Valor.
Devotion.
Allegiance.
Perceptivity.
Balance.
Harmony.
Good humor.
To know what is called for
in each situation as it arises
and do what needs to be done about it
when, where, how it needs to be done,
no matter what all our life long.

I invite you to add to the list
as you see fit
and to live in ways that bring the list
to life in your life all your life long.