Thursday, April 30, 2015

Wherever You Are


There is no community
if we can't trust one another.

There is no trusting
if we don't know one another.

There is no knowing
if we avoid one another.

Come out, come out,
wherever you are...


Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Never a Given


Beauty can flower
from the ground of evil
just as easily as it can
from the ground of good.

Fear can swarm
over a good nation
just as easily as it can
over a desperate land.

The outcome
is never a given.

The results
speak for themselves.


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Good News Bad News


Good news casts a shadow.
Bad news comes edged in light.

Shadows offer us depth.
Light shows us the way out.

Monday, April 27, 2015

The Space Between


You have your own truth.
You know what it is.
You don't need anyone else
to tell you what it should be.

Then you meet someone else.
He has his own truth.
It doesn't look like yours.
Now you have a choice.

Do you keep to your truth?
Or do you take up his?
Or does the truth move
into the space between?

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Relentless


The most
dangerous force
in life is fear.

The most
relentless force
in life is love.


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Mastered


No matter how powerful we are,
every one of us has a master.

When I learn to master myself,
I have a master I can live with.


Friday, April 24, 2015

Six Paths


The path of silence.
The path of denial.
The path of curiosity.
The path of wisdom.
The path of folly.
The path of no path.

The first leads inside itself.
The second leads to ignorance.
The third leads to diligence.
The fourth leads to sorrow.
The fifth leads to wisdom.
The sixth leads to joy.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

Tao Guide


When I live in the past,
memory guides my life.

When I live in the future,
expectations guide my life.

When I live in this moment,
Tao guides my life.


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

How Forgiveness Begins


My forgiveness of others
begins when I forgive
myself for not being whole.

My forgiveness of my brokenness
begins when I forgive myself
for the person I was at birth.

My forgiveness of my birth
begins when I forgive God
for making me imperfect.

My forgiveness of God
for my many flaws begins when
I remember who I really am.


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

What a Tree Can Do


The root anchors the trunk.
The trunk supports the branch.
The branch raises the leaf.

A tree grows when each part
does its part for the common good.
Inequality isn't part of the equation.

What a tree can do, we can do.


Monday, April 20, 2015

Muddy


The river of life
is a muddy one.

But there are
deep springs
where the water
runs clear.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Saturday, April 18, 2015

First and Last


The first will be last.
The last will be first.

Of course.

Where there is
no first and last,
first and last are
one and the same.


Friday, April 17, 2015

First the Egg


The egg is fertilized,
then it starts to split.

First into two cells.
Then into four cells.
Then into eight and on.

If life begins at conception,
then our first act in life
is to break ourselves in two.

An omen of what's to come.


Thursday, April 16, 2015

From the Inside


Whatever a tree knows,
it knows it from the inside.

We're afraid to believe
we could be that lucky.


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

All Are Necessary


If the rain falls on
the just and the unjust,
what am I to make
of a God that feeds evil?

Not all darkness is dark.
Not all light is pure.
God feeds all because
all are necessary.


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Two Paths


The religious path
leads to many Gods.

The spiritual path
leads to the same God.


Monday, April 13, 2015

Spies


Yin hides in broad daylight.
Yang lurks in the dead of night.

They each balance the other
like spies in an enemy's camp.


Sunday, April 12, 2015

Belief Systems


If my beliefs are based
on someone else's counsel,
someone else's expectations,
someone else's fears,
then I'm trying to live
someone else's life.

If my beliefs are based
on my own observations,
my own experiences,
my own trust in Tao,
then I'm willing to try
to live my own life.


Saturday, April 11, 2015

Good Idea


What I see as evil
depends on what
I think of as good.

But where do I
get my ideas of
what is good?

Best to look at
all sides before
I decide on that.


Friday, April 10, 2015

All Others


Where there is only one right answer,
there can be only one right mind.

All others are crazy and dangerous.


Thursday, April 9, 2015

Why Flowers


It's easy to see
our differences.

It's harder to see
we're all the same.

This is why
the universe
invented flowers.

To teach us to see
what is not easy to see.


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Shadow Lines


The lines
that keep me
from exploring
my darker self
are like the lines
that keep me
from exploring
my better self.

Nothing
but shadows.


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Monday, April 6, 2015

Fix It


Nature
doesn't need
us to fix it.

It'll rebalance itself
after we're gone.

Nature
doesn't need
us to fix anything.

We do.


Sunday, April 5, 2015

Conduits of Tao


The first door to open
is the willingness to believe.

The second door to open
is the willingness to see.

The third door to open
is the willingness to do.

We are all conduits of Tao,
willing or not.


Saturday, April 4, 2015

Frightened


The only way I know
to overcome my fears
is to open my heart
and care about those
who frighten me.


Friday, April 3, 2015

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Faith as a Weapon


In times of fear,
faith becomes a weapon.

But used as a weapon,
faith is useless against fear.

Only faith based on love
will defeat fear.


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Wu Wei


Work that flows
isn't really work.

This is doing
without doing.

Play that flows
isn't only play.

This is action
without acting.

Intuition that flows
isn't just intuition.

This is knowing
without knowing how.