There is no Dark Side.
There is no Evil Force.
There are only foxes and rabbits.
Lions and antelope.
And human beings driven by
ruthlessness, greed and fear,
who want what they 
have no business having,
and demand a profit at any price
every day.

Enlightenment,
realization,
awakening,
illumination
is the end of selfishness
and the need for conquest
and triumph.

But even there,
the fundamental laws of nature apply,
and we have to be aware of where we are
and what is appropriate 
for the time and place of our living,
and it will always be wise to follow 
the rule:
Do not go without a big-enough stick
into the woods.
To have something to put between you
and a rabid racoon
or a hungry bobcat.

–0–

Do you think Jesus had something
you don't have?
That would be different from Michael Jordan
having something you don't have?
And different from your best friend
having something you don't have?

I'll give Jesus a tender heart,
a godly bearing,
and an orientation toward,
and perception of,
the numinous,
the ineffable, 
the things that cannot be said,
that are rare among people generally,
but not beyond anything many people
are and have been capable of.

And we are all called/asked 
to do Jesus as only we can do Jesus.
Even Jesus said that those who come after him
would be capable of doing things he never did.
And they would do it their way--
not imitating Jesus,
but being as Jesus was,
in touch with numinous/ineffable things
beyond words,
and living in ways that make them evident
in the world of normal, apparent, reality.

We live to bring Jesus to life in our life,
by being alive in our own life
in ways that bring us to life in our life,
so that where we stop and Jesus starts
is too fine to make out
even with an electron microscope.

That would be doing it the way it needs to be done!

–0–

If Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbot, and their clan hold the slightest attraction,
the barest fascination, for you,
what are you doing reading this?

You belong to the Anti-Woke segment of society,
and should be chanting the chants
and waving the flags of your kind.

You should be lapping up the drivel and the slime
of the people with all the answers,
spewing hate and vindictiveness,
wallowing in misinformation,
alternatives to truth
and alternate facts,
and looking for people to pin it on
("It" being everything you hate,
detest
and blame for things being the all the ways 
you want nothing to be).

You should all pack together,
run together,
and fall off the waiting cliffs together,
because that is the quickest route to waking up,
seeing what's what
and realizing what you are doing and have done.

Everyone wakes up eventually
at the end of some rope,
at the bottom of some wall,
in the grip of some demonic fend of reality
crashing their party
with the truth of their utter abandonment of truth,
compassion and grace,
the ghoulish nature of their being,
and the utter void surrounding them forever,
knowing no one can save them from who they are,
and are of all people the most to be pitted.

If we don’t know 
whether something will work, 
we only have to give it a spin. 

Everything becomes clear with time, 
even to those seeped in denial. 

Start walking with awareness 
and the path will open before you—
and if the path you think is the path 
turns out to not be the path, 
sit with emptiness, 
stillness and silence 
until something arises 
that beckons you, 
and start walking. 
If that turns out to not be the path, 
sit with emptiness, 
stillness and silence 
until something beckons you 
and start walking… 

And so on, 
for the rest of the time 
left for walking.

–0–

Luck is dependent upon the way we see what is happening. 
Good luck is always aligned with our wants, wishes and desires. Bad luck is always contrary to what we would like to have.

Change your mind about what is important, 
and you luck will always be good. 

And when something does not go your way, 
think of it as the luckiest day of your life—
and live as though it is.
And it definitely will be. 
That is how to always be 
the luckiest person alive.

Here is a quote from my book,
"A Handbook for the Spiritual Journey,"
on WordPress:

"We can begin anywhere, any time, 
with anything 
because everything 
is equidistant 
from what is important, 
and everything will lead us there 
if we live with our eyes open."

Our eyes aren't open
if we cannot change our mind
about the meaning--
about the importance of--
of what we see.

All it takes is the freedom
to change our mind
about what is important.

There is a lot of talk about
"freedom of the will,"
or "free will."
Well.

Can we will our mind to change
about what is important?

How free is a will 
that is a slave to the way we see things?

Who wills their way of thinking about things?
Who can change their way of thinking/
seeing/assessing the validity
of how things are?

So much for "freedom of the will."
We are chained to our beliefs,
convictions
and opinions.
We have no choice in the matter.

And the only thing standing 
between us and peace and happiness
everlasting
is our inability to change our mind
about how things are
and what matters most.

If you want to do the one thing
that would instantly improve 
your quality of life,
change your mind about what is important.

–0–

I have walked through American wonderlands
with a camera. 
I can't think of a better epitaph.
And, since I'm not going to have a tombstone,
or be buried, 
but drift on the wind
like the spirit
blowing where it will,
you can do me the favor
of carrying my epitaph with you
in my memory
as you walk through your own wonderlands
wherever they may be.

Who we are in the memories 
of those who live after us
is who we are.

We all need to be living
to be remembered well.

I prefer kindness, gentleness, compassion,
sincerity, integrity, simplicity,
generosity, respect and honor
for all living things
to money, power and success
in pushing my way to what I think
is worth having.

I wonder what is worth being.

I aspire to a noble heart
and a tender spirit
and a quiet presence
on my way through this place,
and have enjoyed good company
and the natural beauty
of the land and its oceans.

What a life!
I am glad to have lived it,
and may it continue as long 
as it needs to through 
all that I have yet to experience!

–0–

Wait for the door to open,
then walk through.
But this is not as passive
as it sounds.

The Colorado River waited
for the Grand Canyon to open
for thousands of years,
and all that while,
it was forcing its way
through desert rock.
Water waits in a strange way.

Be like water in your waiting.

Persistence and resiliency
are the flip side of patience.
And refusing to take "NO!" 
for an answer
in a clandestine,
imperceptible,
way,
by being you without let up,
without fail,
invisibly
and undetectably.

That means knowing yourself
and being who you are--
and trusting that to be 
all you need
to find your way 
through the desert rock
that is the world,
in an "Okay, what now?"
kind of way.

Like yeast in the dough.
Like light shining in the darkness,
in spite of the darkness.

If it were not for the darkness,
we would be irrelevant.
As it is,
we are essential.

We live into who we are.
It is easier with support and encouragement,
but even without it,
there is something in us
that craves expression
and needs us to champion its cause
against all odds.

We have to find our voice and sing,
or find our rhythm and dance,
or find our wings and fly...

The drum is beating,
calling us to march,
to live to the beat 
coursing through our veins.

We live to stand on our own two feet
and say who we are
and who we are not,
letting our yes be yes,
and our no be no,
and our cause
find its champion
before the light is done.

–0–