The Three Sizes of Kindness

Kindness comes in three sizes.

The first size is big enough
to help a stranger in distress.

The second size is big enough
to bring those closest to us even closer.

The third size is big enough
to relieve us of the pain of our own failings.

Irritating Pigs

Casting pearls before swine
just irritates the pigs.

What use is wisdom
to an empty pork's belly?

How Much Do You Have?

If you look at how much you already have,
you will always have more than you need.

If you see only what you do not have,
you will never have enough
no matter how rich you become.

Every Person You Meet

Every person you meet
is a house of the divine.

Shifting Springs

A spring is part of a natural cycle of rain, percolation, collection, and release. A spring will continue to flow as long as the rains continue to feed it.

As weather patterns migrate across a warping landscape of geologic change, rain patterns shift, though. Old springs wither. New springs rise on younger mountains.

We do not live long enough to watch this happen, and yet we believe it does. We base our beliefs on the facts we unearth in our own investigations. Facts are the things we believe to be true.

Such is the power of faith.

Somehow We Learn

Somehow we learn
to see beyond ourselves.

Somehow we discover
a world beyond our skin.

Somehow we learn
to listen for birds in the trees.

Somehow we recognize
the journey we've been on
since we were born.

Planting a Willow

Plant a willow near your house, and it will send its roots deep and crack the foundation.

What gives shade and graceful waving also erodes the stability of your own abode.

One tribe is willing to raze a forest to save one hut, while another tribe is willing to risk a warm, dry place for a living, thriving poem.

Justice Is Not About Fairness

Justice is not about fairness.
Justice is about balance.
Balance offers a wider field of view.

Two Ends of the Same Stick

Good and evil are two ends of the same stick.
One brings the other into being.
This is another way separateness is born.

Why Is There So Much

Why is there so much pain in the world?
Because there is so much fear in the world.

Why is there so much fear in the world?
Because there is so much blindness in the world.

Why is there so much blindness in the world?
Because there is so little awareness of the Divine.

Natural Disasters

Hurricanes form over the ocean,
and wind smashes the coasts with hammers of rain.

Lightning sparks a conflagration,
and mountainsides burn away in tongues of fire.

The earth quakes along deep lines,
and cities collapse like water off a shaking dog.

And yet our greatest suffering often arrives
in the thoughtless acts of those we love.

What Flavor Is the Past?

What flavor is the past?
What scent is the unknown?
What color is humanity?
What size is emptiness?
What texture is this moment?
What noise is divine?