There is nothing but circumstances and consequences
producing, developing, creating, generating 
circumstances and consequences
as far as the eye can see,
or the mind imagine.

Over time, patterns form,
repeat,
stabilize,
appear to be permanent.

Nothing is permanent but the process.

Consciousness is imagination,
realization,
recognition,
seeing patterns,
making connections,
shaping experience,
being shaped by experience,
producing stories,
creating the world we live in,
using only circumstances and consequences
as guides.

We make it all up.
We live in a fictional universe.
Calling it rational.
Saying it makes sense.

Nothing makes sense.
It is a random collection
of circumstances and consequences,
and we make of it what we will.
And kill one another over disagreements 
about what it is and what it means,
and we make it all up.

To stabilize our world
and order our life,
because we like balance and harmony.

Everything likes balance and harmony.

Homeostasis and equilibrium are the purpose
and goal of it all.
Quieting the noise.
Reducing the complexity.
Making peace.

Eden.
Nirvana.
Heaven.
The Farther Shore.
Paradise...

Circumstances producing consequences
creating circumstances and consequences,
as far as the eye can see.

Anything we can say about it
is our way of squaring ourselves up with it.
Making peace.

That being the case,
why take it seriously?

Why not relax into it?
Relish it?
Enjoy it?
Embrace it?
Lose ourselves in the wonder of it,
laughing with it,
dancing with it,
playing with it,
all the way? 

–0–

The right kind of protection
is all we need,
and we all need that.

The right kind of protection
restores us to ourselves,
and enables us to be who we are,
just as we are,
as one thus come,
like a baby from the womb.

Jesus was born in a manger
and died on a cross,
and he was true to himself all the way.

His confrontation with Peter
and his "No, Lord! This shall not happen to you!"
was grounded on, "Get thee behind me, Satan!"
And this occurred immediately,
at least in its presentation in the gospel,
following Peter's answer to Jesus' question,
"Who do you say that I am?"
with, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!"
And Jesus' response to Peter,
"You are the Rock and I give you 
the keys to the kingdom."
From that to "Get thee behind me Satan!"
in the space of one line of text.

And, from there, we immediately get,
"Whoever wants to save their life will lose it,
and whoever loses their life in service to me
(which has to be understood as being 
in service to their own best interest,
their life that is who they are, just as they are
as ones thus come),
will find it.

Where does Jesus stop and we start?
When we live in service to Jesus,
we are living in service to ourselves,
as one thus come,
as we are straight from the womb.

Jesus of Nazareth is only good for
connecting us with ourselves.

He tells his disciples,
on his way to Jerusalem and death,
"I must decrease and you must increase."

Jesus' mission was to connect us 
with ourselves as one thus come
and get out of the way.

And the church used Jesus 
as a way to squeeze money from the poor
and the wealthy,
the weak and the powerful,
and here we are today.

As those whom the church tells us to be.

We have to throw all of that off,
and all theology, doctrine and dogma as well,
and return to the simple basics
of being who we are as those thus come.

Picking up the path from there
and "following Jesus"
by listening to ourselves
in the emptiness, stillness and silence,
and doing what needs to be done
as only we can do it
in each situation as it arises,
knowing what that is
as Peter knew who Jesus was,
and becoming who Jesus was ourselves,
by being who we are as one thus come.

Get it?
Do it!

–0–

Everything hangs by a thread
and turns on a dime.
We can't take it more seriously
than it deserves. 

Always the same questions,
in every circumstance/situation
as it arises:
Now what?
What next?

Always the same response:
Sit still,
be empty and quiet
listen,
look,
wait for realization,
awareness,
perception,
direction,
purpose
to occur,
then get up
and do what needs to be done--
and repeat as necessary
as balance and harmony return,
a pattern develops,
and a routine evolves
to suit the times.

"The times, 
they are always a-changing."

And we have to be "a-changing"
along with them.

It is the way.

And has been the way forever.

Asking, "Here we are, now what?"
"Aqui estamos, a'hora que?"
Gets to be old hat after a while,
and we step into the next thing
like we belong there.

–0–

What are you famous for?
Not, "What do you want to be famous for?"
Not, "What do you wish you were famous for?"
What are you famous for?

What do people look for from you?
What do they look to you for?
What are you known for?
What is your shtick?

What do you like best about you?
Rank the highest?
Rate at the top of the list?

What do you look forward to doing the most?
Enjoy having done the most?
Are proudest to be associated with?

Two things stand out for me about me:

1) I get to the point.
2) I sit still and quiet,
embracing the silence,
enjoying the stillness,
relishing the emptiness,
present with nothing,
waiting to see/hear/know,
so that I may rise to do,
and continue becoming,
unfolding,
emerging,
developing,
realizing...

Oh, and there is one more,
3) I enjoy a good cup of coffee.
Alone, of course,
in the silence.

–0–