Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

A national day of thanksgiving
is a good idea,
reminding us of the central place
gratitude and appreciation
have in the life 
of every human being,
humbling us
and grounding us 
in the realization of our 
utter dependence upon
the benevolent grace
of things quite beyond our control.

Call it "being lucky,"
and remember that luck 
is not ours to command,
and that we all have been
outrageously lucky just to be here/now.

(Not withstanding those who huff up
and declare, 
"Luck has nothing to do with it!
It is all an expression of the providence of God!"
To which I like to respond,
"Aren't we lucky 
that God is so providential?")

The beneficent timing of circumstantial events
is an astounding fact of life
operating in the life of everyone
with the capacity for the awareness of such occurrences. 

We can't count on it
and we can't deny it.

Coincidence or Synchronicity--
regardless of the term used 
to describe the timing of things
that cannot be explained--
is always a source of marvel
and amazement,
and the foundation of thanksgiving,
gratitude and appreciation.

And is something we all have experienced
and can look forward to experiencing 
again and again
throughout the time left for living.

Amen! May it be certainly so!

–0–

Compromise and negotiation
are the tools most useful
in the transition process
from duality to unity.

Generally the process is co-opted
in favor of disappearing
the opposition,
not negotiating and compromising 
with it.

The heretics were burned at the stake,
or tortured to death,
or fed to the lions,
hung,
drowned,
run out of town,
excommunicated
defrocked,
forgot about,
ignored,
disappeared.

Nope.

One extreme has to bear the pain
of the other extremes.

One pole has to agonize
over its incompatibility
with the other poles.

And work out a mutually satisfactory
co-existence with each other.

Blunting the points,
smoothing the edges,
accepting differences,
honoring the existence
of contrary ways of seeing things,
assessing value,
ascribing meaning and importance,
and talking about what's what.

Enemies are easy to make
and difficult to abide.

That's where the work comes in.
Holding our ground
and honoring the opposition's right 
to their ground,
while working out the implications
of mutually exclusive points of view.

This is difficult enough among people
with a high level of maturity.
and out of the question with the level
most people develop in their life.

Immaturity makes community impossible.
And that has been the kink in the hose
through the ages.

Which is to say that we are lucky
things aren't more rocky than they are.
And that has been the case from the start.

–0–

We bring ourselves forth
in the way we live our life,
or not.

Our context and circumstances
bring us forth,
or not.

We live the way we say 
our life needs to be lived,
or the way someone else says
our life should be lived--
and we say that is all right with us.

We are the one who says so,
even if we do what someone else
would have us do.

We are the authority who determines
how our life is lived,
and it makes all the difference
if we are right about it.

We all are born with in internal plumb line,
indicating when we are in, and out of, plumb.

Joseph Campbell said,
"We know when we are on the beam
and when we are off it."
When we are in plumb,
and when we are out of plumb.

When we are on the beam
and in plumb,
we are living well.
When we are off the beam
and out of plumb,
we are living poorly--
which is reflected
by our sense of balance and harmony.

When we are off balance
and out of harmony,
we know it.
Just like we know when we are off the beam
and out of plumb.

What we do about it is up to us.

I recommend regular applications
of emptiness,
stillness
and silence
to tune into balance,
harmony,
beam
and plumb--
and make adjustments as necessary
to be at one with the life
that is waiting for us to live it.

We know what is important,
what is meaningful.
Emptiness,
stillness 
and silence
assist us in knowing what we know,
and doing what needs to be done
about it.

–0–

We live to make things better
for all sentient beings--
by doing what needs to be done
when, where and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what.

That statement requires us to take it on faith.
There is no way it can be established to be so
by any rational, logical, analytic presentation.
No rational, logical, analytic presentation 
can be made.

The people who make theological declarations
about the Bible being the infallible word of God
(in spite of its glaring defects 
[Eden not having latitude and longitude,
for example])
which they take on faith
are also without logical grounds,
which is what taking something on faith 
is all about--operating outside the sphere of reason.

So the question: Why take theological propositions on faith
and not something else instead--
for example, the opening statement of this discourse?
Why one and not the other?

Their only fall back response is,
"Because why take the chance of going to hell?"
which they also make up and take on faith
to justify taking the rest of it on faith,
leaving untouched the question,
"Why take that on faith 
and not something else instead?

What kind of people would conjure up
an invisible world they are afraid of
to escape by conjuring up a way out
that has to be taken on faith?

–0–

Wanting/Having/Going/Doing
must be balanced with
Seeing/Hearing/Knowing/Being,
allowing Doing to flow naturally
in response to what is called for
in each situation as it arises.

This means 
No Agendas/Plans/Schemes/Plots,
No Contriving/Arranging/Engineering/Orchestrating
No Imposing/Forcing/Compelling/Coercing...

You see how 
this turns upside down,
inside out,
the foundational assumptions of the culture,
of the world.

And you see how
the way that cannot be discerned
as the way,
and is thus
the only reliable way,
has no chance whatsoever
of being recognized and revered
with fealty,
liege loyalty
and filial devotion
by anyone
in the times 
that are upon us.

That means we can't care
what our chances are
as we see what we look at
and do what needs to be done about it,
moment by moment,
situation by situation,
no matter what,
all our life long.

–0–