More Work to Do

Pain in my foot.
Pain in my shoulder.
Pain in my sense of worth.

What matters is
not the pain.
What matters is
what the pain means.

Pain in my foot
means I have traveled
a long way.

Pain in my shoulder
means I have put in
a long day's labor.

Pain in my sense of worth
means I have more
work to do.

Inner Path, Outer Path

Our spiritual journey is a journey into awareness of the Divine. We travel along an outside path and an inside path.

The outer path leads through the people, cultures, and religions around us. The sacred experiences of others. Received wisdom. Passed-down words from the Divine.

The inner path leads through our own personal explorations and experiences of the Divine. We seek the Divine, and the Divine responds.

We find our Divinity outside. We find our Divinity inside. Twin Divinities, yet only One.

Trading Shoes

The storms pass over again, and we are spared. No power loss. No trees down. No damaged roof. No hail-damaged cars. No flooding. No injuries. No deaths.

This time.

Storms will continue passing through, though. Tonight they passed over. One day, they may pass through, instead.

This alone is reason enough to reach out to the unspared among us. One day, we and they will trade shoes.

Shadows Among the Lights

Sometimes a few shadows among the lights are all I need to see what was there all along.

If I Want to Matter

If I want to matter to others,
others should matter to me.

If I want others to like me,
I should find reasons to like them.

If I want others to help me,
I should be willing to help them.

If I want others to accept me,
I should open my mind and accept them.

If I want others to care about me,
I should discover why I care about them.

Unmoved

When we stand unmoved on our own opinions,
no matter what arguments rise to counter them,
we earn the luxury of growing old without friends.

Free Will

Free will is the ego thinking it is separate from Tao.

Not the Done

A root will burrow a long way for water.
A branch will stretch a long way for light.

Where does the water come from
to power the burrowing search for water?

Where does the light come from
to power the stretching search for light?

When I do what is already in me to do,
it is the doing that matters, not the done.

If You Pray

When you encounter what could be either a coincidence or the answer to a prayer, which do you choose to believe?

Permanent Crisis

What is necessary this morning
will not be necessary in a year.

What is pressing this afternoon
will not be pressing in a week.

What is urgent this evening
will not be urgent in a day.

What is crucial this moment
will not be crucial in an hour.

No crisis is permanent.

Creating Opposites

How often do we unwittingly make war
to bring peace into being?

How often do we unknowingly inflict pain
to bring mercy into being?

How often do we blindly create chaos
to bring serenity into being?

Learning Patience

Patience is what we learn
when we live in the future
instead of the present.

This moment
is a cup overflowing.

What patience
is needed for that?