Big Game

Life.

Must be present to win.

Watching a Cardinal

I saw a male cardinal sunlit on a fence outside my kitchen window this morning while I was washing dishes. I had to stop and watch him because the sunlight made him so red.

He dropped down to the ground and pecked at the dirt -- again, a brilliant red bird in a spotlight of sun.

Then back on top of the fence, this time his head the only red in sunlight. The rest of him was wine red in shadows.

I don't know how long I watched him flit from fence to dirt to fence again. It seemed a long time.

I'm writing all of this here as a present to you. As you picture it in your mind, it becomes your experience, too. Even the brilliant red. Especially the brilliant red.

This is one of the ways we grow beyond ourselves.

Your turn.

Cast a Stone

Cast a stone into a well.
Cast a penny into a well.
Cast a dollar into a well.

Does the well know the difference?
Or care?

Going Tribal

Why do we need an adversary?
Is it to make us stronger through the struggle?

Why must we clump together in divisions?
Is it to teach us we must depend on one another?

Why must we break apart into tribes?
Is it to keep our world small enough to handle?

Start and Start Again

Moment by moment we die.
Moment by moment we live.
In every moment we are
both dying and living.
Every moment is
a coming to life again.

My True Path

What is my true path?

Do I hack it through the forest of my life,
or do I follow it through the trees?

Or do I sit still
and give up paths altogether?

Why Small Things Matter

Large follows small.

What we do in a small way,
we will do in a large way.

Another reason to pay
attention to small things.

Threads of Thinking

Symbols, language, math -- these are the threads we think with.

They are the woven fabric of our consciousness. We use them to filter and make sense of the relentless data pouring through our eyes and ears and nose and mouth and skin.

Some things cannot be clothed in words or numbers. They are invisible to our conscious mind.

When we silence the symbols and still the mind, what is invisible will appear.

Acts of God

Lightning strikes from ground and sky.
Tornadoes turn houses into missiles.
Hurricanes recast the boundaries of oceans.
Silence empties a space for the Divine.

Even When Being

Be still even when being still.
Be silent even when being silent.
Be calm even when being calm.

Sink into every moment
as if it were quicksand
even when it is quicksand.

Be present even when being present.

First Dependence

We are a communal species. We need to be able to depend on one another as we travel the arc of our individual lives.

In this journey, it is best to depend first on ourselves before we depend on others.

Six Questions

What is the sound of your reflection in a mirror?
What is the taste of your own voice?
What is the scent of your innermost thought?
What is the touch of your fingerprint left on a table?
What is the sight of your quietest breath?
What is the truth of your own experience?