December 31, 2021

01

Adams Mill Pond Panorama 09 11/10/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Jesus never killed anyone,
and Jesus never said kill anyone.

The cross in Jesus' time 
meant only one thing: Death.

And when Jesus said,
"Whoever loses their life 
for my sake and the Gospel's
will find it," and,
"Those who intend to be my disciple
have to take up their cross daily
and follow me,"
he was saying clearly,
"My way is the way of death,
and if you come with me,
you have to be willing and able to die."

As though to add emphasis to his words,
Jesus died on a cross.
The implied message was, 
"This is what I mean!
This is the way to do it!
This is the way I want it done!
Do not be misled!"

Jesus died to show us he meant what he said.
Jesus died to show us he means business.
That to follow him is to die in the service
of the truth Jesus died to serve.

If you wonder what that is,
we have The Sermon on the Mount,
and the Parable of the Good Samaritan,
and the Parable of the Prodigal's Father,
and the bit in Matthew 25 about
"Inasmuch as you have done it or not done it
to one of the least and most insignificant
of my brothers and sisters,
you have done it or not done it unto me!"

The truth that Jesus died to serve
is to be found in these places.

To wear a cross without being willing 
to serve the truth Jesus served
is like standing for the flag 
without standing for what the flag stands for:
Justice! Equality! Truth! Freedom!

And the Freedom! part of these four pillars
of Democracy is the freedom Jesus displayed--
the freedom to sacrifice ourselves 
in the service of Justice! Equality! Truth!
for all of our brothers and sisters
of every skin color and disposition,
down to the very least and most insignificant
of them all.

If we aren't about to do that,
we have no business wearing a cross,
or having one on the rear windshield of our car,
or standing for the flag
and waving it about.

Think about what you are doing,
and doing not,
as we step into a new year
that needs desperately to be new-better,
in the way Jesus meant 
when he said, "Behold the New has come,
and the Old has passed away!"

–0–

02

A Far View 06/26/2012 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Boone, North Carolina
Squaring ourselves up
with ourselves 
and with our life
is the work of maturity and grace.

Letting things be as they are
just as they are,
and committing ourselves
to making the best of it
no matter what
is the first step
to the rest of the way.

Things as they are 
are what we have to work with.
What we do with it
is ours to do.

We need all the help we can get.

That gets us to
the right kind of emptiness,
the right kind of stillness
and the right kind of silence.

Thinking is the first thing to go.
Emptying ourselves of thinking
is the revolutionary act of freedom
that opens the door to possibilities
unthought and unimagined.

Thinking we know what's what.
Thinking we know what we are doing.
Thinking we know what our options are.
Thinking we know what to do and not to do...

Let it all go.
Be as empty as an egg
after the chick is hatched.

Feeling follows thinking.
Let it go.

All of it.

Sit without thinking,
without feeling,
without seeing,
without hearing,
without attachment,
without agenda,
without opinion...

Watching for what stirs to life
in the silence
as comforting presence,
as prevenient grace,
as evidence that you are not alone.

Be with that
"as the moved before the mover,"
and allow your original nature
to respond of itself to the mystery
at the heart of life and being.

See what happens
without making anything happen.

We owe fealty, 
loyalty,
devotion
and fidelity 
to the Source
of the Mystery beyond motive and desire.

This is the right order of things.

Our grounding foundation,
direction and guidance
is not what we want and how to get it,
but who we are and how to be it
within the environment
of our life in eternal, apparent, reality.

Stability, balance and harmony,
integrity and sincerity
lead the way
with action in The Field of Action
that is commensurate with our nature
and appropriate within our circumstances
to our surprise and wonder
in each situation as it arises.

We live from the Source
in conjunction with the times.

Anchored in Mystery,
we create magic,
just by being ourselves here and now.

And everything is transformed
like that.

–0–

December 30, 2021

01

Earth Shadow 12/18/2012 Oil Paint Rendered — Lake Brandt, Bur-Mill Park, Greensboro, North Carolina
We can dupe ourselves.

Fooling ourselves is what
we do best.
Because telling ourselves
what we want to hear
is what we do best.
Because letting ourselves
off the hook
is what we do best.

Self-transparency is our only hope.
Yet.
How can we know
if we aren't just fooling ourselves
again?

The right kind of emptiness
discloses everything.

The seeing that sees
sees itself seeing.
The knowing that knows
knows self-deception
when it sees it.

Know what you want to hear
and be wary 
when you approach its neighborhood.
Know what your needs are--
what forms your neediness takes--
and be gentle with yourself
and kind
to avoid being tricked by yourself
again.

Hurry
is another way 
of ignoring the warning signs,
the flashing lights,
the Bridge Out Ahead barriers,
and missing the fortuitous detour
on our way to having what we want
which we have no business having at all.

Waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear,
knowing what we know
and what we do not know,
and watching to see what we do
without conducting,
directing,
choreographing,
designing,
managing,
forcing,
achieving,
subduing,
conquering,
compelling--
by simply allowing our life
to unfold according
to its own impulses,
in its own time,
in its own way
out of our original nature
organic and true to itself
like the paths followed
by the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea
to exactly where they need to be
when they need to be there
the way they need to get there
like the miracle it is
all the way.

–0–

02

Maple Panorama 03 11/02/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-Acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
No one can see for us.
We find our own way to the path
that is our path
the way our fingerprints
and our iris patterns
are our fingerprints
and iris patterns.

Our way is just that way.
Just so the way we are just so.

"The path that can be discerned
to be a path,
is not a reliable path" (Martin Palmer).

How do we know?
How do birds know when to migrate
and where to migrate to?

Who put you on your present path?
Who got you where you are,
right here, right now?
How did you get here?
Whom do you trust to know
where you go from here?
And how to get there?
And what then?

We are the greatest mystery there is!
Our life is a wonder!
Our best move is always the same:
Get! Out! Of! The! Way!

Get out of the way of The Way!
The Way we know nothing about!
The Path that cannot be descerned
to be The Path
is unfolding before us
one step at a time,
whether we know it or not.

We are the Mystery!
We can trust ourselves 
to the Mystery!

And see where it goes!

–0–

03

Black Bayou 52 11/02/2015 Oil Paint Rendered –Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Monroe, Louisiana
Our scenes are our scenes.
We all could be a better photographer
with better scenes.
The trick is to see the scene that is before us,
and be graced by what it has to show us,
seeing what is to be seen,
scene after scene--
in a "Here we are, now what?"
kind of way.

This is called "milking the scene
for all it is worth,"
and not leaving anything unseen
in any scene.

Being here, now.
All the time.
That is the secret Knowers know,
and all that Seers have to say.

Get that down and you have it made,
seeing the scene
that is to be seen,
and doing what is to be done with it,
one scene at a time.

–0–

04

Grandfather Mountain 06 10/13/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Grandfather Mountain State Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Carl Jung said, 
"We meet our destiny
on the road we take to escape it."

I improve on his insight by adding,
"And on the road we take to find it."

Which is to say,
"One path is as good as another,"
and,
"All paths lead to The Path eventually,
if we keep walking and live long enough."

The path that leads to The Path
is also The Path.

Whatever we say is The Path is The Path,
but not in the way we mean.
All we have to do is keep walking,
and live long enough.

The only thing we can do to enhance
our ability to live aligned with The Path,
in accord with The Way,
is to live out of the right kind of silence,
and the right kind of stillness,
and the right kind of silence.

It also helps to know the difference
between forcing something to happen
and allowing something to happen.
Between swimming with the current
and swimming against the current.
Between serving our idea 
of how things ought to be,
and acquiescing to how things ought to be.
Between having an agenda,
and having no agenda.
Between willing our life into being, 
and permitting our life to take shape
as it will,
according to its own sense
of how things need to be.

Thinking that we see
is simply a step on the way to seeing.

And none of us can be
anywhere other than where we are.

So, be here now.
Empty.
Still.
Silent.
Let arise what arises,
and go with it,
or go not,
according to what you take
to be The Way opening before you,
or not.

And see where it goes...

–0–

05

Desert Rain 03 05/12/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah
When waiting, wait.
And do what needs to be done
while you wait.

But know that you are waiting,
even if you are waiting
to know what you are waiting for.

We spend a lot of time waiting
for the time to come upon us
for action.

We can spend the time while we wait
preparing,
reflecting,
listening,
looking,
meeting the requirements of life,
reading,
walking,
sitting...

All the while, waiting.
For the fullness of time.

For the time of our anointing.
For the time to act.

For the door to open,
waiting for us
to walk through.

When the door opens,
walk through.

–0–

December 29, 2021

01

Two Trees and Three Chimneys Oil Paint Rendered — Dollar Does Dali
The "IT Factor"
is having what it takes
to do what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises--
for the joy of doing it 
and the delight/satisfaction
of having done it--
all our life long.

IT is doing the right thing
at the right time
in the right place
and the right way,
time after time,
no matter what,
for as long as it takes.

What keeps that from happening?

Everybody can do IT.
Everybody has done IT.
No body does it consistently,
reliably,
dependably
all of the time,
no matter what.

Why not?

It is a combination 
of several factors.

Wanting to/not wanting to
is a big one.
Feeling like it/not feeling like it
is another.
Having better things to do is another.
Being out of sorts is another.
"So what? Who cares? What difference does it/
will it make? Why try? What's the use? 
What's in it for us/me?"
are others.
And a pronounced lack
of the necessary degree
of maturity and grace
is the biggest.

Maturity and Grace are the key
ingredients to everything.
Every. Single. Thing.

IT all comes down to Maturity and Grace.

Without Maturity and Grace to sustain IT,
IT is just a "flash in the pan."

How smoothly and easily is your life going?
Here is what determines/influences that:
How smoothly and easily do you greet,
receive and accept as "just the way it is"
how smoothly and easily your life is going?

It takes Maturity and Grace
to smoothly and easily accept
what is happening in each situation as it arises
as the context within which
we bring forth what is needed,
when it is needed,
the way it is needed,
no matter what,
time after time.

The world, our life, is in the state they are in
because of a glaring deficit in Maturity and Grace,
around the globe.

If you want to improve your life and the world,
develop your capacity for Maturity and Grace
in dealing with what meets you
in each situation as it arises.

In failing/refusing to do that,
we are meeting ice with ice,
and ice trumps everything.

When we are iced in,
we can only wait it out.

Applying the warming combination
of Maturity and Grace
to the situation
assists the thawing conditions
that are necessary
for things to be what they need to be
in the service of life and being.

If you are in a plight, a fix,
a tight place, a mess,
apply a healthy dose of Maturity and Grace
as long as it takes
to turn things around
and bring smooth and easy into play.

–0–

02

Scrapping Fall 13 11/17/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Carolina Thread Trail, 12-mile Creek Segment, Waxhaw, North Carolina
What we want is irrelevant
in comparison to what needs to be done.

I don't care what we feel like doing,
when the baby's diaper needs changing,
change the baby's diaper!

Find the equivalent to the baby's diaper
in each situation as it arises
and respond appropriately.

That is all there is to it.

–0–

03

Fall Woods 04 11/11/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-Acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Understanding that we owe fealty to the moment,
that we are to live in fidelity to the moment,
that our liege loyalty and filial devotion
belong to the moment--
to the here and now--
so that our overriding concern
is for what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
puts things nicely in their place,
and allows everything to fall out
around our central, binding, allegiance
through all of the times and places
of our living,
all our life long.

It has nothing to do with 
what we want to happen
or what we feel like doing.

It has everything to do with
what needs to happen,
with what needs to be done.

Get that down,
and everything takes shape
rather nicely,
over time.

–0–

04

Gardenia 01 06/02/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
What we want is the source of all our difficulties.
We can want what we have no business having.
What has no business being.
Fossil fuel emissions are a case in point,
and the list is long.

Living in the service of what we want
at the expense of everything else
has us where we are today.

We live as though we owe fealty to what we want.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
What we want has to give way
to what needs to happen,
to what is called for,
to what is crying out to be done,
in each situation as it arises.

Racism is another case in point,
where the wants/desires of those in power
have to be sat aside
in homage to the right of all people
to be honored with respect for who they are,
and treated with dignity and equality
in all matters great and small--
regardless of how that might impinge upon
the wants/desires of those in power.

Knowing what deserves/demands our fealty,
and living in its service,
no matter what, 
turns the world around,
and swings things back into balance and harmony,
and makes things as good as they can be
for as long as life shall last.

–0–

December 28, 2021

01

Clapboard 04 10/13/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Deer Isle, near Stonington, Maine
If we put all the gods that ever were
in a room,
there wouldn't be anyone in there
I would enjoy talking to.

There is nothing to like
about any god I've ever heard of.

Name one you would invite to go with you
for a walk in the woods,
or for a cup of coffee and conversation.

Gods don't have conversations.
They issue commandments,
and demand obedience. 
They are no fun to be around.

And everybody is clamoring to get to heaven!
Like heaven would be a very cool place to be.
It would be a jail without bars.
And probably without windows.

I really enjoy looking out windows.
The people I know of 
who make such a fuss over getting to heaven,
aren't the kind of people
who spend much time looking out windows.
They are too busy getting to heaven,
and getting everyone else there.

Why?

Because, as the story goes,
the only alternative is hell,
like heaven wouldn't be hell.

Who thought all of this up?
Some clergy type
who did not like looking out windows,
and needed a gimmick for creating an audience,
I would wager.

Greed and fear.
Works every time.

The church as we know it--
and religion as we know it through time--
are grounded in greed and fear,
wanting to earn merit and get to heaven,
or its equivalent,
and avoid hell, 
or its equivalent.

Just find things you are interested in, 
that you enjoy,
and care about,
and devote yourself to those things--
with liege loyalty and filial devotion,
and fealty unending forever.

It could be anything.
Maybe, looking out windows.

Leave heaven and hell
to those who have nothing better to do.
As for you,
find you thing(s) and do it (them).

–0–

02

Autumn Woods 10/16/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
What are we ignoring,
neglecting,
denying,
discounting,
dismissing,
disregarding...?

Look closer at those things!
Tend carefully those things!
Seek out those things!
There lies the treasure,
the Grail,
the Path!

"The stone the builders rejected
is the chief corner-stone."

What in your life is like that stone?

Like the girl/boy next door,
whom you joke and kid around with,
and would never think of 
as a romantic possibility,
until they are walking down some aisle
with someone other than you?

What are you missing?
Consider those things!
Notice what you are relegating
to the "Not no how, not no way" pile.

Be aware of the way you are evaluating everything.
Be slower to issue a final judgment on all things.

The road not taken deserves
a careful reading,
as do all the things
we walk by unseeing.

"Mind how you go!"

–0–

03

Country Cemetery 07 11/19/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Lancaster County, South Carolina
Who are the Gatekeepers?
Who lets in what gets in
and keeps out what stays out?
Who says so?

What is censored?
By whom?
Who is restricting what we hear and see?
How we think?
What questions we can ask?

What is not permitted?
Disallowed?

By whose authority?

The climate deniers
do not want scientific,
factual, data to be a part 
of their presentations.

Conspiracy theorists don't want
historical truth to have any bearing
on what they are spinning.

Theologians don't want the things 
they take on faith,
and which then become absolute facts
because they say they are,
to be subjected to the same rigorous examination
other statements of truth have to meet.

The Gatekeepers keep out what they want out,
and let in what they want in.

Who are your Gatekeepers?
Why do you let them in,
and keep others,
with different points of view
and ways of evaluating and separating
facts from conjecture/inference/opinion, out?

Why do you listen to the people you listen to,
and dismiss and castigate those you don't listen to?

Who are your Gatekeepers?
What validates them to play that role?

–0–

December 27, 2021

01

Lying Fallow 01/30/2009 Oil Paint Rendered B — Kernersville, North Carolina
We are all waiting for something.
In the meantime, what?
Here we are! Now what?

What is called for?
What needs to be done?
Here and now?

Those are our questions to answer
in each situation as it arises.
If we get it right,
we have it made.

Each situation is put a prelude
to the next situation.
The way we manage ourselves 
in each situation
for the good of the situation
leads to, composes, comprises,
a life well-lived in every situation,
and our good takes shape around that.

We put too much emphasis on our good.
Our good is a function of how well
we take care of the good of every situation
that comes along.

And, if we strive to manipulate our situations
in the service of our good--
as though we know what that is
(We only know what we want,
and assume that will be good for us,
which, you will agree I'm sure,
does not hold up under examination)--
we blow it all to hell,
and end up with nothing good
anywhere in our life.

Living for the good of the situation
by knowing and doing 
what needs to be done there,
changes everything,
particularly, us,
and makes all things good.

So, what is called for?
What needs to be done, 
here and now?

Being right about it,
and doing it,
makes all the difference.

–0–

02

Big Rock Preserve 04 11/17/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, Charlotte, North Carolina
What would it take for us
to settle into our life
just as it is,
just as we are?

Just doing what needs to be done
here and now
using the gifts of our original nature
in service to each situation
as it arises?

Just settling into each moment
and offering there what is called for
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction/delight
of having done it?

Drawing the lines that need to be drawn,
and "letting the chips fall as they may"?

When is the last time
joy, satisfaction and delight
been a part of your life experience?

Stop insisting that things be done
to please you,
and start being pleased
to do what needs to be done,
situation by situation--
understanding that saying "No"
may well be exactly what needs to be done,
and be pleased to say "No"
whenever that would be appropriate
to the occasion,
in ways appropriate to the occasion.

–0–

December 26, 2021

01

Branches 12/10/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
What is blocking your way?
Holding you back?
Dragging you down?
Obstructing your life?

Except for what you would be free
to do what needs to be done?

Our obstructions are excuses.
Paraplegics have the same chance
at Original Personhood
as anyone else.

It is not what stands in our way.
It is our attitude about
all that stands in our way.

How we see what we look at
tells the tale.

Joseph Campbell would ask us
to imagine the Star of David--
which before it was called 
"The Star of David"
is the six-pointed symbol
"that appears in India
as the sign of Chakra IV"--
the Heart Chakra.
the center of empathy,
compassion, sympathy, love, 
according to the system 
known as Ayurveda.

This is from the Johns Hopkins website:

Ayurveda, a natural system of medicine, originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. The term Ayurveda is derived from the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science or knowledge). Thus, Ayurveda translates to knowledge of life. Based on the idea that disease is due to an imbalance or stress in a person's consciousness, Ayurveda encourages certain lifestyle interventions and natural therapies to regain a balance between the body, mind, spirit, and the environment.

This underscores the importance of 
"balance and harmony"
and their central place
in the service of The Way
throughout our life.

The two equilateral triangles
melded into each other
are equivalent to the yin/yang symbol
of early Taoism,
with "aspiration"
and "inertia" cancelling each other out
in a static and eternal kind of way.

Which is the static and eternal 
way of interpreting the symbol.

Another, equally possible, interpretation
is to see the Fourth Chakra 
as a veritable map of life,
much like the cross symbol of Christianity,
suggesting that the present moment
is always a compromise/collaboration
between the forces of light and darkness,
or duality in all its manifestations.

We proceed as a "mystery of conjunctions"
all along life's way.
We walk two paths at the same time all the time.

We do so by walking one path
with an eye on the other path,
aware of the validity of both paths,
discounting, dismissing, denying, ignoring
neither path ever.

The ascending triangle is enabled
and assisted--
Not! cancelled out or nullified--
by the descending triangle,
resulting in progress, not stagnation.

Moving forward/upward is propelled
by our interest in/exploration of
our desire for the opposite direction.

We examine the downward thrust of our journey
for it's insight/input/contribution
to our overall wholeness/synthesis/union/completion.

In our quest for upward/forward/achievement,
what are we ignoring/rejecting?

What insight/realization/awareness are we 
abandoning/banishing by our one-sided desire
for conquest/subjugation/acquisition/success/glory?

The two triangles meet at the center
for conversation/dialogue/communion 
in a mutually accepting/appreciating/honoring/admiring/unifying
kind of way.

Consciousness expands/enlarges/deepens/develops
through its recognition of and compassion for
the wealth/treasures/value of the Unconscious
that is with us to balance the desires/will
of our conscious ego always to the end of the ages.

What we know is aided and assisted
by what we do not know.

What we do not know is always trying 
to get our attention by interfering with
(According to our interpretation)
our plans and agendas and what we want to happen--
but the interference is always in our own best interest,
if we would but take the time 
to empty ourselves of our idea of the good,
enter the stillness and silence,
and open ourselves to a good beyond our idea of the good.

As Meister Eckhart said,
"The final leave-taking is leaving God for God."

And Joseph Campbell said,
"Where you stumble and fall,
there lies the treasure."

There is nothing like the fall from grace
to invite us to graciously receive
the fall from grace,
and all that it opens for eyes that see,
ears that hear
and hearts that finally understand.

And awakening never ends.

Thus, Heraclitus eternally reminds us:
“Traveling on every path, 
you will not find 
the boundaries of soul by going; 
so deep is its measure.” 

And on we go!
As One,
together with ourselves
and all other selves,
one self many journeys,
merrily, merrily all along the Way.

Balancing, harmonizing, unifying,
consolidating, synchronizing, synthesizing,
bringing together all that happens,
day by day.

–0–

02

Bayou DeSiard 07 11/02/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Monroe, Louisiana
We are on our own.
What are we going to do about it?
I recommend
listening,
looking,
seeing,
hearing,
inquiring,
exploring,
investigating,
experimenting,
evaluating,
reflecting,
hypothesizing,
theorizing,
testing,
revising,
with all conclusions being tentative
awaiting further evidence,
and all certainty being circumspect,
and nothing being assumed or inferred
without awareness and inspection.

Trusting ourselves to know what's what
and what is called for
through the right kind of emptiness, 
stillness and silence
regularly turned to 
and experienced/received
for the clarity it offers
and the direction/guidance
provided thereby.

–0–

December 25, 2021

01

Christmas Day 2021
A Christmas Prayer:

May we be thankful for the day
each day,
and for the Way that winds through
each day,
every day,
and for the way to the Way
that we all walk from the beginning,
with its wrong turns,
and dead ends,
and meandering twists through the wasteland,
where we pick up hints,
and realizations,
and lessons learned
and re-learned,
gaining the experience
required to know what fits
and what does not fit,
what we are built for
and what we are not built for,
where we belong
and where we have no business being,
growing readier to listen,
to ask, seek, knock,
and to persist in the search
for our original nature,
that we might discover at last
What we love to do
to the point of paying to do it
if it comes to that,
and live what remains of our life
in its service,
doing what makes our little heart sing
and our little toesies dance,
for the joy of doing it
and the delight of having done it,
and looking forward to doing more of it
as long as the light shall last.

Amen!
May it be so!
For all of us--
each and every one!

–0–

02

Ramsey Creek 11/07/2011 Oil Paint Rendered 03 — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Greenbriar District, Cosby, Tennessee
Life is about being and doing,
doing and being,
not about getting, having, owning,
achieving, acquiring, amassing, possessing,
winning, conquering, subduing, mastering...

Being who we are,
doing the things that serve, express, exhibit
our original nature
in the service of what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
for the joy of doing it,
and the delight/satisfaction of having done it.

And doing it again.

–0–

03

Mossy Boulders 11/07/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Greenbriar District, Cosby, Tennessee
When people ask,
"Jim, what is with your fascination
with the Oil Paint Filter in Photoshop?"

I tell them,
"I like the hint of magic it gives to a scene.
We are never more than a perspective shift away
from seeing the world within the world,
beyond the world.
Magic/Mystic/Mystical/Mysterious/Spiritual is always "right here, right now,"
and we walk "right past" it,
only seeing the world we have always seen.

The Oil Paint Filter forces a 'wait-a-minute!'
on the lemming parade in its rush to the sea,
and people have to look again,
maybe seeing,
maybe not,
but looking.
And that's the most I can hope for,
that people snap awake enough
to look at what they are seeing,
and perhaps they see what they are looking at."

So the Oil Paint Filter is my attempt
at opening a door.
Whether anyone walks through or not
is their business.

The same goes for writing these little 
free verse whatnot's
accompanying the images.
People may not read them,
people may read them and not comprehend them,
people may read them and shift their perspective.

The perspective shift is our only hope
at seeing the Magic/Mystic/Mystical/Mysterious/Spiritual
everywhere,
and participating in it
through the way we align ourselves with it
in living our life.

Maybe yes, maybe no.
I open doors,
or, to use a different door analogy,
I put my foot like a doorstop
between the door and the door frame
to keep the door from closing,
letting a little light shine in.

Whether anybody goes to the trouble
of having a perspective shift or not
is their business.

I'm here to do what I do best--
just like you are here to do what you do best--
and let that be that.
If anything comes of it, fine.
If nothing comes of it, fine.
We did our best,
and left it at that.
We don't have time to worry about it--
that would get in the way
of our doing our best!

Not that it matters.
And here is the thing about that.
It doesn't matter if it matters or not,
what we do.
We are here to do it!

"Without hope,
without witness, 
without reward!"
(Steven Moffat, Doctor Who).

We are here to do what needs to be done
whether it does any good or not.
We are here to be good for nothing
in this way.

Do what you do and let it go.
"Get in there and do your thing,
and don't worry about the outcome"
(Joseph Campbell's summation 
of the Bahgavad Gita).

Look for something that needs to be done
and go do it,
with the gifts/daemon/genius 
of your original nature.
No matter what.
Throughout the time left for living!

–0–

December 24, 2021

01

Wetlands Sunrise Panorama 02 12/26/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Four Mile Creek Greenway, Charlotte, North Carolina
The Way winds through every way,
and lies latent in everything,
concealed in all that reveals it
to eyes that see,
ears that hear,
hearts that understand,
as The Great Secret
plainly visible
in every place
at all times.

The Joke
of the Ages.

Right here,
right now.

A slight perspective shift
away from realization
in all times and places,
through all times and places,
to right here,
right now.

What's the trick?

The right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

Being present,
being open,
being here, now.

Aware of what is happening,
and of what is being called for,
and offering it as best we can
out of the gifts/genius/daemon
of our original nature--
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long
no matter what.

Beginning here, now.

The Path Without End.

Amen.

–0–

02

Watkins Glen 05 09/20/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Watkins Glen State Park, New York
The answer to everything--
"The solution to all of our problems today, everyday"--
is the right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

The right kind of nothing
is all we need.

Out of the right kind of nothing,
everything appears,
emerges,
arises,
becomes,
at the right time,
in the right way,
as a blessing and grace
upon all who are capable
of being blessed and graced
by the right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

Who have been blessed and graced
from the beginning
with a noble heart,
a kind heart,
a gentle heart,
as innocent as a baby fresh born,
untouched by greed or fear,
with no agenda
and no opinion,
looking to see what's what,
and what to make of it,
and what is called for,
and what needs to be done about it,
waiting for the clarity 
that comes with experience and time
to those at peace
with the right kind of emptiness,
stillness
and silence
over time.

–0–

December 23, 2021

01

Fall on Little River 02 11/10/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, Tennessee
What is your foundational
mode of operation,
organizing principle,
way of finding your way to the Way
through the jungle?

How do you go about living?

Thinking or feeling?

Primarily?

I think (or feel) (I can't tell which
most of the time) 
(So I don't know if I am Thinking/feeling,
or Feeling/thinking)
(But I think [or feel] 
that I am Feeling/thinking).

I Feel/think that we shake out
along thinking/feeling lines.

There are thinking people
who cannot feel,
and feeling people who cannot think,
and thinking/feeling or feeling/thinking people
who can do both
without consciously switching
between the two
(Or knowing which is which).

For me, I tend to trust feeling
more than thinking,
and don't do much of anything
until I know how I feel about it.

Dr. Spock and I would 
make each other crazy.
In no time.

What is it time for NOW?
Analytics has a hard time with that one.
Instinct or intuition
is already in the water,
splashing around.

I think/feel (feel/think),
that our feeling brain knows best 
what to do, where to go,
and our thinking brain knows best
how to get there,
and likes to think it knows why.
I think/feel (feel/think)
it doesn't matter why.

If you tend toward Dr. Spock,
you probably haven't made it this far
in this little treatise,
and if you know what I mean,
you may be ahead of me,
waiting for me to catch up.

–0–

02

Scraping Fall 15 11/17/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Carolina Thread Trail, 12-mile Creek Segment, Waxhaw, North Carolina
I tend to feel my way along,
waiting to see what's what
and what I do about it.

I look out the window a lot,
and wait for the next thing
to come along.

Hurry is not what I do best.

These things write themselves
one sentence--sometimes one word--
at a time.

I don't know what I am going to say next.
So, it is as much a treat for me,
as it is for anybody,
to see what I have to say.

Which is to say,
I don't have much time to waste
in thinking about what I should say,
or should be doing,
perhaps instead of what I'm doing.

I am 10 or so days away
from ending my 76th year
and stepping into my 77th year,
so I don't have nearly as much time left
as I had at the beginning.

I could be frivolous then
(But, I regret that I spent 
so much time figuring out 
what I do best,
and too much doing things 
I had no business doing),
and now I'm letting my interests
pilot my boat on its path through the sea.

My interests are narrowing down.
My curiosity is taking the lead
in determining what my interests are.
And I am curious about fewer things,
like practically nothing
that is more than two hours away,
because my physical ability to go there
and come back is much less now
than it was two years ago,
and nothing like what it was seven years ago.
So, there's that.

I am curious about the inner world,
the right way to do things,
and the right things to do,
which are determined/influenced
by the context and circumstances
of our life--
and cannot be imposed upon 
the context and circumstances
in a "This is the Right Thing to do
always, any how, no matter what!"
kind of way.

What is right, now depends upon
what's what, now,
because what's what governs
what is called for,
and anything might be called for,
depending on what's what,
and we have to be here, now,
to know what that is,
and being here, now,
is one of the things I can do best,
because that is well under two hours away.

–0–

03

Sassafras and Sourwood 02 11/11/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Martin Palmer said,
"A path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

Jesus is said to have said something similar
with, "The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."

And Moses is said to have said,
"It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it."

The path, the way of the spirit,
the Taoist's "way of heaven,"
are not "out there"
to be found the way we find a lost key,
or a buried treasure,
but are within,
to be awakened and stirred to life
when the conditions are right,
and the situation/circumstances
call them forth,
and the time has come
and "the fullness of time" 
is upon us for them 
to take their place
in our life.

And our place is to be ready,
listening, watching,
so that we may not miss 
the time of our awakening 
when it is at hand,
because we do not know
the day or the hour
of our visitation
when the door will open
and the Path appears,
like a white rabbit
winking at us to follow it
as it disappears around a corner.

If we wait too long 
to take up the Quest,
the moment passes,
and the same old same old
closes in upon us,
because we did not know
the time of our visitation.

Which is the plight of those
left to wail and lament
in the outer darkness
because they thought the wrong things
were important,
and missed the right things
that were there (theirs) all along.

–0–

December 22, 2021

01

Watkins Glen 06 09/20/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Watkins Glen State Park, New York
It is all so wondrous, amazing,
complex and absurd!
We have to accept it just as it is,
and say, "Wow!" a lot.

The idea that we can somehow
manipulate "the system" 
to our advantage
is the most on-going,
never-ending,
raw absurdity 
in the entire gamut of absurdities.

That we can tilt the table
and have what we want
is the theme that runs through
the center
of all of the tragedies
ever created by our kind
through time.

Having what we want for how long?
At the expense of what?

Are two questions we never consider asking,
much less, answering.

"The system" is built for,
and runs on,
balance and harmony,
homeostasis,
equilibrium,
like a thermostat maintaining
a "constant" temperature
by allowing it to dip a bit below,
or to rise a bit above,
and raising, or lowering, it a bit 
in the opposite direction
until "constant" is achieved
for a very short while,
and it repeats the process "constantly,"
throughout time.

Or a bicycle traveling in a "straight" line
through a never-ending series
of controlled wobbles,

Having what we want is like that.
Now we have it.
Now we don't.

Trying to have what we want always,
and nothing but what we want ever,
is the recipe for insanity.
And suicide.

I've known people who chose to die
because they could not handle life
on life's terms,
saying, in effect,
"If I cannot live my life on my terms,
I choose to not live at all!"

Most of us are not as rigid as that.
Life does not favor a steady state of being.
It is give-and-take all the way
for those who make it all the way--
letting things come and go as they will,
in their own time,
in their own way,
because "that is how things are."

Nobody knows why things are as they are,
except to say "the system" requires it.
"It is the way."

And learning to let come what's coming,
and let go what's going,
is the key lesson of life
among the absurdities,
dichotomies
and contradictions
at work in life,
all of the time,
around the clock.

We cannot freeze the tides in place
without stopping the clock.

And who would want to do that?

–0–

02

Fall on Little River 11/10/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Townsend, Tennessee
Living from the center,
from the heart,
from adamantine core
of integrity, sincerity, congruity and harmony
creates balance in the service of life and being,
the way a gyroscope exhibits
intention and purpose just by being itself.

Living from the core
is being one with the core
in all of our coming and going.

We do that by "minding how we go,"
in a regular and routine way
of remembering to remind ourselves
of who we are and what we are about
and how we are to be about it:
Being right about what is called for
and doing it the right way
at the right time
in the right place,
because that is who we are
and what we are here to do,
no matter what.

Return to the center,
revisit the core,
regularly,
routinely,
throughout each day.

–0–

03

Scrapping Fall 16 11/17/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Carolina Thread Trail, 12-mile Creek Segment, Waxhaw, North Carolina
I dreamed that I was not allowed
to join The Circle of Shaman
because I was like the wind that blows where it will.
The irony of that was not missed
even in the dream,
and I received the news with a smile,
knowing I did not belong there,
because Shaman groups have rules
and I see rules as guidelines,
as suggestions,
like a recipe for gumbo,
witch itself is a contradiction in terms,
and "No tomatoes in gumbo!"
is an invitation for me to add tomatoes to gumbo.

You can see, as I do, how the Shamans 
knew what they were doing.

At the same time,
I do belong to the most intimate circles
of some people,
and they belong to mine.

We all have our circles,
and our circles intersect
with the circles of all of those
who belong to our circles,
and that kind of belonging
is at the heart of who we are,
individually and collectively
throughout time.

"The Collective Unconscious"
is Carl Jung's phrase for the aspect of Mind
that includes all of us
and all of our ancestors,
and, to be consistent,
all of our descendants,
which covers the whole of us over time.
All of time.

We are One in many ways,
and the ways in which we do not belong 
to some circles
is one of the ways we are One with everyone,
in a "without contrary, is no progression"
(William Blake) kind of way.

In our opposites and contradictions we are One.
And I belong to the circle of Shaman
in spite of being excluded from their circle--
by virtue of being excluded from their circle--
because life is funny like that.

And we are all One whether we want to be or not.

I don't know how the fascists are going to take the news.
Not very well, I expect.
And that is something else they have in common
with all of us.

–0–

04

Fall Woods 05 11/11/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Believe in you--
not the you you look at in a mirror,
not the you you mean 
when you say, "I'll have a cup of coffee,"
not the apparent you,
not the you people would describe
when taking about you--
the you at the heart of you,
the you exhibited by your original nature,
the you that shines through
in certain situations,
leaving you to wonder,
"Where did that come from?"

Believe in that you,
trust in that you,
establish and maintain
a relationship with that you,
live aligned with that you,
in accord with that you,
in ways that express and exhibit that you
throughout what remains 
of the time left for living.

You begin to do this
by listening to your nighttime dreams,
listening to your heart,
listening to your body--
your physical symptoms
and the things you "know in your bones,"
and that come to you as "gut feelings."

Listen to your intuition
and your instincts.

Notice the things that catch your eye,
and look closer.

Notice the things that attract you,
and the things that repel you.

Follow your tastes and interests
to see where they lead.

Ask your friends what they know about you
that you don't know.

Complete "Your Totem Animal Exercise" 
on my companion WordPress site at this link:
https://jimwdollar.com/2020/09/26/your-totem-animal/

Sit quietly from time to time,
open to what arises within
and reflecting on that
as a path to new realizations.

Write yourself a letter
and read it aloud,
then write a letter to you from yourself
and read it aloud.

Carl Jung said, "There is within each of us
another, whom we do not know."

Make it your practice to get to know
"the other" within,
and develop your relationship 
with her/him over the remainder of your life.

–0–

December 21, 2021

01

Kisatchie Pines 02 03/18/2015 — Kisatchie National Forest, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
We can start anywhere.
That's the coolest thing
about finding our way.
It always begins right here, 
right now,
where we are.
And with letting that be that.

Too much of the time
we want to be anywhere but 
where we are.
Where we are is what brought us
to wanting to be anywhere but here.

Had to get here to want 
to be somewhere else.
Start here.

And what we start with
is asking all of the questions
that beg to be asked
by being here.

Make a list.
I'm serious.
Write them down.
And write down all of the questions
that are generated 
by asking the questions.

Do not pause to answer any of them,
and do not think any question
is an answer in itself--
every question is a springboard
into other questions.

Our place is to ask al of the questions!
By writing them down.

Buy a spiral-bound notebook.
Or start a file on your computer,
or whatever your favorite way to write is.
And start writing your questions.

All good questions lead to more questions.
Ask them all.
See where they lead.
You are on your way!
Following your questions
is the best way to get anywhere,
especially away from here, now.

Do not assume you know anything.
Do not take anything for granted.
Ask questions about everything
you think you know!

Heidi-ho! Off we go!

–0–

02

Black Bayou 17/18 Panorama 11/02/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Monroe, Louisiana
Tradition and theology
are cop-outs.
When we turn to tradition and theology,
we are letting someone else
do our thinking for us,
do our deciding for us.

May as well chug whiskey 
straight from the bottle.
We have checked out of our own life,
and turned things over to someone else,
to something else.
Because we are tired of doing our life
on our own.
And do not want the responsibility
any longer.

You can take your Hero's Journey 
and shove it anywhere you like.
We've had it.
Worn out with it.
Through with it.

Bring on tradition,
theology,
and/or whiskey!
We are going to stop living
here and now!

That's what tradition, theology
and whiskey are good for.
Dying long before we are dead.
Because we just don't have 
the heart for it.
For one more day of thinking 
for ourselves,
making our own decisions,
wondering where to go from here.

It is called being at the end of our rope.
That is a great place to be.
We have to get there
before we can change our mind
about what is important--
thinking we know what is important
is what gets us there,
to the end of our rope, I mean.

And, once we get there,
we think checking out is 
the most important thing.
But, at the end of our rope,
we have proved to ourselves
that we cannot be trusted
to know what is important,
particularly what is most important,
so we have no business opting out,
and going with tradition, theology and/or whiskey.

Our place is simply to hang on
to the end of our rope
and see what happens,
dangling there, waiting.

Now, my formula for waiting,
at the end of our rope,
or anywhere else,
is to wait in the right kind of way,
which means emptying ourselves 
of everything.
Every-single-thing.

Particularly moods.
No moods while you wait.
And thinking.
No thinking while you wait.
And emotions.
No emotions while you wait.
Clean all of it out.
All your wants/wishes/fear/desire/
certainties and convictions...
All of the 10,000 things
that crowd in there
in your poor little over-loaded,
over-crowded, mind.
Open the door and sweep it all out.

Wait as empty as the space between breaths.
Exhale and pause,
start counting slowly
until you absolutely must inhale,
and when you inhale,
inhale slowly, extending your stomach
away from your spine,
filling your lungs all the way to the bottom.
And exhale slowly, sucking your stomach in
toward your spine,
so that all the air is expelled.
And pause there, again,
counting again,
until you have to inhale.

Do that for five rounds of inhaling and exhaling.

Now, think about the time between breaths.
That is how empty you need to be.
As empty as the space between breaths.

Wait in the emptiness,
just breathing, normally now,
and pausing between breaths
for a comfortable count between five and ten,
inhaling, exhaling, waiting,
in the stillness as still as the surface of a pond,
allowing you to see to the bottom.
Notice what is on the bottom.
In the silence as quiet as the far side of the moon.

Wait in the emptiness,
in the stillness,
in the silence,
for something to stir,
emerge,
arise,
appear
on its own,
of its own volition,
out of nowhere.

Welcome it as your lodestar,
your talisman,
your symbol,
your guide.
And carry it with you
as you reenter your life,
no longer quite at the end of your rope,
and now with a companion of your own devising
that you had nothing to do with constructing.

Tradition did not give it to you.
Theology did not give it to you.
Whiskey did not give it to you.

You are quite capable of having what you need,
to find what you need,
to guide you where you need to be.

With your new companion as your guide,
comfort, pal and friend,
explore what it represents,
suggests, brings to mind, discloses, reveals,
has to say...
And see where it goes.

–0–

03

Watkins Glen 09 09/20/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Watkins Glen State Park, New York
The Big Three Barriers
to the Spiritual/Hero's Journey
according to Buddhism 
are Fear, Desire and Duty.

To which I will add:
Anger, Hatred, Depression, Jealousy,
Dependency, Laziness, and Lack of Curiosity.

You are encouraged to add to the list
out of your own experience.

The Things That Keep Us From Doing
The Things That Need To Be Done List.

Doing the things that need to be done,
the way they need to be done,
when they need to be done,
where they need to be done,
because they need to be done,
using the resources of our Original Nature
and the context of the circumstances at hand--
for the joy of doing them
and the satisfaction of having done them--
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long,
is all the Spiritual/Hero's Journey
comes down to.

That is all that is asked of us.
Ever.

This puts us in right relationship
with our life,
with ourselves,
and with one another.

And the only things that stand in our way
are the things on The List.
Get them out of the way,
and there is nothing but 
"fair wind and following seas"
all our life long.

December 20, 2021

01

Lake Martin Sunset 02 05/24/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
All of us are confronted 
with the truth of the life we are living--
and of the life we are refusing to live--
in our dreams every night
all our life long.

And most of us are addicted
to some form of diversion,
distraction, denial
in our waking hours
to give us something to think about
and take our minds off
of the ever-widening gap
between who we are
and who we are born to be.

The work to get us back together
with our original nature
in a life aligned with it
is called The Hero's Journey.

And is only for those
who have what it takes
to be self-transparent
and at-one with themselves
within the context and circumstances
of their life
no matter what
all their life long.

The door is always open,
but few take the trip.

–0–

02

Beech Woods 04 11/21/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Diana Prince was Wonderwoman, 
Clark Kent was Superman,
Bruce Wayne was Batman,
and so it goes down the long list
of superheros.

The list is forever long.
Your name is on the list,
and mine.

We all have a super double,
an alter-ego,
a hidden wonder within.

We are, at once,
who we are and who we also are,
and it is our place to recognize that,
and walk two paths at the same time,
in bringing our Inner Other forth
to engage Outer Reality
within the conditions and circumstances
of our life,
in each situation as it arises.


This is our saving grace.
We save ourselves,
and we save the world,
by being true to our Original Nature
and doing what is called for
in ways appropriate to the occasion
all our life long.

We have what the world most needs,
and we betray it daily,
by being who we are supposed to be
at the expense of who we are capable of being,
doing what is expected of us
and denying what is possible with us,
day in and day out,
all our life long.

Waking up is waking up to 
the reality of our Original Nature,
and working to exhibit/express/reveal/incarnate
the gifts/daemon/shtick/talents/abilities/genius/etc.
tucked into our DNA
along with our fingerprints and iris patterns--
and live to serve whom Carl Jung was addressing
when he said,
"There lives in each of us,
another, whom we do not know."

–0–

My sister, Susan, died this morning, realizing her wish to be relieved of the burdens of this life, and joining my sister Diane, who died in August of this year, and all those who preceded her throughout the ages of time. Peace be with them all.

–0–

03

Bayou DeSaird 08 11/02/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Monroe, Louisiana
We have to mine the darkness for the light,
the difficult for the gold,
the unwanted for the gift,
and open ourselves to the steady presence 
of unmerited grace,
pouring over,
spilling out,
like a well-spring of living water
all the days of our life
unto all of those with eyes to see,
ears to hear
and a heart to understand
what is right here,
right now,
all the time.

We are never more than a slight
shift in perspective away
from having what we need
to find what we need
to get up and do what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done, 
because it needs to be done,
no matter what
in each situation as it arises,
for the simple joy of doing it,
and the satisfaction of having done it,
throughout the time left for living.

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04

Sourwood 01 11/11/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
The Way is the way 
of doing the right thing
in the right way
at the right time.

A couple dancing 
in sync with each other
and the music.

Tennis players
swapping ground strokes.

A center fielder
tracking a fly ball
and catching it on the run.

Each moment calls for something.
The right response
fulfills the moment,
and leaves everyone
privy to it
with a sense of satisfaction,
completion,
in a "Well Done!" kind of way.

Living alert to each moment
and responding to them 
in just the right way,
is to live with self-transparency,
integrity, sincerity and spontaneity--
in touch with the moment
and our original nature,
dancing as a dancer with the music,
a tennis player with tennis ball,
a center fielder with a high fly.

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