Do right by the moment,
by the time and place of your living,
and by those in the moment
with you,
by the circumstances in which you live--
in the spirit of those who have said,
"Thy will, not mine, be done,"
(With the "Thy" being addressed to
the moment and the circumstances
constituting the Whole of the here/now,
what is called for,
made necessary by,
the Umwelt,
the sitz im leben,
the lived environment
of each situation as it arises,
through all of the situations
and circumstances that arise,
all our life long).

Do that
and let it go.

No one could do more.

This is the grounding foundation
of the Garden of Gethsemane,
the very source of death and resurrection,
through all the world
from before the beginning of time.

To understand this and do it
is to be one with all that is
and ever has been,
and ever will be.

World without end.
Amen.

–0–

Don't be afraid of the dark!

What's money good for?

"Darkness is the cradle of the light,"
said Rumi.

Money is good for sex, drugs and alcohol.

These times are asking/forcing us
to revise our opinions about darkness and money.

The times are always good for one thing,
and one thing only:
Waking us up!

Everything is about waking up!

Waking up is all there ever is to it!

We fight it all the way.

This is the story of the Garden of Eden
and the Garden of Gethsemane.

We live between the Gardens,
with a foot in each Garden,
refusing to understand
there is only one Garden
that is both Eden and Gethsemane
at once,
depending on our perspective.

We don't get very far along the way
(The Way) to waking up
without understanding perspective
and its power.

The Tao Te Ching
can be translated
"The Way of/to Power,"
"The Power of The Way,"
"The Way of/to Virtue,"
"The Virtue of the Way.

Both Power/Virtue
and The Way
are nothing more than perspective,
seeing things as they are,
knowing what's what,
and laughing.

Laughter is the ground of seeing/knowing.
Those who see/know
see and know the joke is on us,
and it's hilarious.

George Carlin got it,
lived it out before us,
made immense fun of us
for not getting it,
not seeing it,
not knowing it.

He thought that was funny, too.
Our not-knowing
thinking we know it all.

It is perspective all the way down!
(Or "fucking perspective"
as George Carlin would say).

Perspective sees/knows/laughs.
And lives in light of the joy/wonder
of "fucking perspective"!

"Darkness is the cradle of the light,"
and money is for paying the bills.
The Right Bills.

We think the only bills worth paying
are for drugs/sex/alcohol.

Jeffrey Epstein is the shining example
of perspective locked in on drugs/sex/alcohol
and letting the good times roll
while passing a good time
around the clock forever.

All he could think to do with money
was more drugs/sex/alcohol.

A testament to the times.
All the times.

The Garden of Eden,
refusing to turn the light around,
see what's what
and grow up
by becoming the Garden of Gethsemane
and dying to all we thought was it
in order to be possessed by it,
turning the light around
and living in light of the proper place
of darkness in our life.

Darkness is the cradle of light.

The darkness that we try to extinguish
with drugs/sex/alcohol
is the very thing required 
to see what's what
and do what needs to be done about it,
paying the right bills
and seeing what is called for
in each situation as it arises
that utilizes our original nature
and our innate virtues/talents/gifts,
and doing that forever.

What would that be?

We have to live in the right way
to find out--
doing the right thing,
in the right way,
at the right time,
in the right place.

The Tao Te Ching!

–0–

Things are not what they are supposed to be.
Integrity is lacking everywhere.
Deception reigns.
Life is a trick 
done with lights, smoke and mirrors.

This photograph depicts an image
that does not exist in real time.
Bits and pieces of reality
make up the whole,
apparent but not actual.
A lie,
not the truth.

The thermostat on my wall reads 70 degrees.
The thermostat on my desk reads 67 degrees.
The woman with the fireplace company
says she will get back to me soon
with figures for a fireplace replacement cost.
It's been a month.
The sign at the auto repair place reads
"Service While U Wait!"
What it doesn't say is
"And Wait, And Wait, And Wait..."

Everything seems to be covering up something.
The political absurdity being played out
on Capital Hill,
"I'm not lying! YOU are lying!",
takes us far over the edge of reality
into complete nonsense
surpassing that of Alice in Wonderland
and Beyond the Looking Glass,
both of which remind us that 
this is typical political fare
reflecting typical social/cultural fare,
and the best we can hope for--
authenticity, validity, and reliability--
is a small group of two or three people
who have known each other for years,
and laugh at everything that is said.

(Except of course, 
on social media
where everyone is exactly 
as they appear to be.)

I don't see this improving with time.
I see it as an indication
of a New Dark Age
sweeping over us,
where no one can trust anything
they see or hear,
and everyone cries themselves 
to sleep,
only to have nightmares all night long.

All for the want of a nail
that is really, truly, actually,
I'm not lying about this, a nail.

–0–

Somebody needs to be the stabilizing
influence in each situation 
as it arises.

Why not you?

Upon what does your own stability depend?
What do you need to be dependably stable,
grounded,
centered,
at peace
within any situation that may arise,
in a "Here we are. Now what?" kind of way?

What do you turn to
when you have nowhere to turn?
How about yourself?
How about turning to you,
counting on you,
depending on you,
when everything else 
is going to hell all around you?

How about you being the one
who sees what is happening,
hears what is being called for,
and does what needs to be done
out of your own original nature
and innate virtues/specialties/qualities?

What is your original nature?
What are your innate virtues/specialties/
qualities?

What can you count on about yourself?
What is always there for you
about you?
What do you know to be true
about you--
in a positive, helpful, creative
manner?

What keeps you from getting out of the way
in order for that to come to life
in you/through you 
in each situation as it arises?

Who are you afraid of displeasing
by being yourself?
Who is keeping you 
from being yourself?

How long has he/she been dead?

We live to please ghosts.
Who were incapable of being pleased
with themselves
or anyone else!

It's time to move on.
You be happy with you!
Lay the ghost to rest.
Finally.
At last. 

–0–

I envision myself slipping quietly away
when I transition back into the Light--
there is nothing but the Light
shining brightly through the night,
which, of course, means there is no night.
There is nothing but the Light.

Which, of course, makes everything night,
because there is no night by which
to see the Light.

The Light that is only light cannot see itself
and creates its own darkness/invisibility
by being nothing but the Light.

And it doesn't bother the Light at all,
because, "the shadow knows,"
and knowing, knows everything it would know
if it could see itself as the Light.

Speaking of seeing,
that reminds me that I see myself 
slipping quietly away,
sitting in some rocking chair,
or one of those bouncy metal "rockers"
that adorn our patio and I sit in
with my camera,
looking out the window,
while actually being out the window,
which is a great trick,
looking out the window
being out the window,
being one with what I'm viewing,
as I slip away,
and that will be that.

Back into the light,
waiting to do it again.
Energy, 
which can neither be created nor destroyed,
converting/transforming itself again and again,
loving the wonder of it all,
laughing with delight
through all of the coming and going.

Light being Light.
Dancing with night
all the way.

Which, of course, makes us all one
in the best kind of way,
eternally and always,
in our coming and going,
dancing with each other
dancing with the night.

–0–