love the moment

It is best to live like water For it washes all things, and refuses none It even flows where no man goes And cleans even those despised by all And in this way, it is most like Tao Think how life would be if we moved through it Like a river Without haste, without fear. Inviting all, judging none. Does the water care where it goes? Does it care the path it takes - Whether wave, or rain, or wispy cloud - If it remains ever wet, ever flowing to the sea? dg 7/31 Sent from my iPad

Fully embrace your life And you will share in the glory of creation. Tao 52 Be Be who you are Be who you are meant to be Not Who the world demands The expectations of convention Cannot create songs or symphony All are borne by the Muse Fear writes no song, and never paints the sky Only courage brings forth beauty Only faith releases light dg 7/31 Sent from my iPad

life is a series of moments.  some good, others not so much.  and yet, i suppose no moment is really good or bad.  they are simply single strokes on the canvas of living.  they are a solitary splash of color that  - until the painting is complete - is elusive in it's meaning.   that bold, dark spot that now seems so ominous, may really be only a point of contrast -  necessary to better display the bright yellow of sunshine that would be dulled without it. and that broad stroke that seems now out of place, is only so considered because you thought the painter to be painting a windmill instead of a forest. life is a mystery, revealed only in it's unfolding.  if we listen, we can hear wisdom's whisper - "meet the day with a humble greeting".   doubt is not meant to prevent our action or paralyze us in fear.  instead, the fog is meant to sharpen our vision - and quicken our hearing. because life is not printed in bold-faced type. it is ...

Become totally empty Of expectations, fears, regret Quiet the restless mind Forget ought, should, must Tomorrow is not waiting for your permission It will come, as it will Today is the answer to your question Only an empty vessel can be filled with The wonder of now dg 7/30/10 P.S. - I highly recommend "Tao Te Ching, The New Translation From 'Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition'" by Jonathan Star. It is great morning reading. Available at Amazon. Sent from my iPad

"Forgiveness is not something to be figured out" ** Neither is the rain a puzzle to be solved A cool breeze on a hot day needs no explanation Relief, rest Rain, forgiveness Should be received with open arms Forgiveness should be given like rain Wherever it is needed P.S. - be sure to ask from yourself for yourself too dg 7/28 **From "The Tao of Forgiveness", by William Martin Sent from my iPad

Fear kills Her sister, hatred, lays waste to entire worlds Darkness always lingers, awaiting an invitation He cannot act without permission Love, too, is waiting Bright sunlight that yearns to banish the dark She is always calling The choice, the decision is ours to make dg 7/26 Sent from my iPad

I find it odd, how life shows itself to be so paradoxical - that contradictory mixture of stability and serendipity. On some level, there is a homey, safe feel to everyday. That familiar way we slide into our daily groove, those morning routines that help us jump-start our days. But, then, there are those chocolate chip occurrences that are dropped into the mix of days, that add joy and flavor to random bites of living. This is the part of being I have come to cherish - a perspective learned and earned - after my more than half-century of living. It is that "just right" recipe of existence that contains just enough spice to clear my palette, while avoiding the "too much" that would send me screaming from the room. Now, there is no doubt life sometimes contains those days, those seasons that shake us down to our bones. And, God knows, we need those, too. But that can be the topic for another day. Because today, is about how durable - but at the same time how wondro...

Honor life The living sky The forgiving flowers The loving waters The deer that bounds across your path - unexpectedly - was chosen to remind you that life is wild and untamed. The sparrow hopping at your feet at Starbucks - small and quick - is saying that life is sometimes fragile and love can be fleeting. Seize them both with care whenever you can. That single flower that bloomed in the middle of your lawn, alone and brave, is there to speak. Notice me. Respect the singular voices among us that cry out and testify. Beauty and wonder are persistent. They arrive suddenly. Be careful to neither tread upon or cut them down - until they have had the chance to speak their peace. dg 7/24/10 Sent from my iPad

Does his teeth bite to eat and he's rolling Never changes a thing The week ends the week begins She thinks, we look at each other Wondering what the other is thinking But we never say a thing These crimes between us grow deeper Goes to visit his mommy She feeds him well his concerns He forgets them And remembers being small Playing under the table and dreaming Take these chances Place them in a box until a quieter time Lights down, you up and die Driving in on this highway All these cars and upon the sidewalk People in every direction No words exchanged No time to exchange And all the little ants are marching Red and black antennas waving They all do it the same They all do it the same way Candyman tempting the thoughts of a Sweet tooth tortured by the weight loss Program cutting the corners Loose end, loose end, cut, cut On the fence, could not to offend Cut, cut, cut, cut Take these chances Place them in a box until a quieter time Lights down, you up and die Dave Matthews Band An...

if a person seems wicked, do not turn away awaken him with your words, lift him up with your deeds respond to injury with kindness, do not turn him away instead, turn away his wickedness Tao 62 all the names we use all the labels affixed permanently stuck, unmovable the anger, the fear the darkness descending, like dust settled in a ghost town dead, abandoned frozen in time what we need is wind a gust, alive, to rattle our windows or rain, a downpour of waters previously, withheld because clouds, once stingy deny us all the buds that die may be our own dg 7/20/10 Sent from my iPad

Open yourself Make space, like the waves receding, leaving the day Moist and clear No one has walked by, leaving their tracks upon you Your eyes are unbroken Nothing has cracked the skies, releasing the rain No one has walked by, leaving no tracks Leaving nothing Only space And you Open to the day dg 7/18/10 Sent from my iPad

Give like you own the world, because you do. All the beauty of spring, all the tenderness of babies, all the  sweetness of love is there for you. And me. And even for those we  dislike. Do not forget the wonders of now. They await you. If you will notice them. Remember birds. Recall honeysuckle. Honor the fallen flowers. They  served honorably in the battle for your attention. dg Originally posted, 4/27/10 Sent from my iPad

you live you wonder what it means, every day following another what it means, geese flying in perfect formation as if they know something you don't leaves fall, chosen flowers fall wilted - no longer planted you wonder, what it means beauty, laughter sorrow, sunshine it all comes, every day following another what it means, geese flying away *Tao 8 dg 7/17/10 21st Ave SBX

"As ice expands, it causes stresses through its depth and across its breadth. These stresses cause ice to crack. The sounds of these cracks are transmitted through the ice and can get boisterously loud. The colder the temperature, the faster the ice grows and the more frequent the stress cracks develop. The larger the lake, the bigger the stress cracks." From The Road Less Trammeled by Steven T. Rider http://www.dig-itmag.com/columns/roadlesstrammeled_more/188_0_27_0/ Lately, it's been noisy in my life. Lots of  groans and moans, the sort of sounds your hear in old wooden houses when the wind blows fiercely.  O r sometimes a lot of  cracks and pops, like when you walk on a frozen lake. As you can imagine, it is rather disconcerting.  I, myself, like peace and quiet.  I like it when all goes as planned, and I can easily line up what is with what was - or maybe with what should be.  But, like it or not, life seems to rarely work this way.  Instead,...

a knower of truth knows that a fundamental foundation of all that is - is this simple maxim - you reap what you sow. Jesus knew it. Lao Tzu knew it. That is why Tao 27 refers to this truth as: "The great wonder." "The essential mystery." "The very heart of all that is."  And so it is. It is the first decision we must make as children. do we shout "Mine! 'Mine!" or, instead, do we open our hands to share our treasure? this early choice - which we are graciously allowed to revisit all our lives - sets our course.  will our journey be expansive and wondrous - or narrow and predictable? will we - in faith - sow freely the seeds we've been given, or will we - in fear - greedily hoard the little stash of our beginning?  for all of us begin with little - and it is the decisions, the intentions that will determine the sum of our life. when we leave this world and pass to the next, what will be our legacy? have we grown during thi...

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Things happen Then, they don't Things we really wanted And, on our schedule, too There's really no way to control this No matter how hard we try So, what to do?? Let them happen Or not So much easier to say Than actually do What happens - out of my control How I choose to react - 100% in my control What an easy fix Control what I can Release what I cannot Who knew it was this easy. Not dg 7/13/10

We begin soft and unsullied But the process of living scars and mars us The trick is To grow just enough of a shell to Make it through our days But then, another dilemma That soft shell, meant to protect Can also constrain us So we must choose To break ourselves open And expand our world With time, the cracks heal And we have learned, again, How to breathe and grow Wash, rinse. Repeat, as necessary. The cycle continues as long as we live - alive. Because either condition - a thickened shell or a shrinking world - Will break the cycle. We must continue to grow and break out of our self-imposed limits, old stories - no longer true, failed habits - no longer useful. Wash, rinse, repeat. Breathe, grow, crack and heal. Repeat, as necessary. (after reading a letter of apology from my Father) dg 7/16/10 Sent from my iPad

"If I had the least bit of wisdom, I could follow the path of Tao quite well. My only fear would be trying to go my own way." Tao 53 The Bible says we should "walk by the Spirit". Athletes talk about "being in the zone". Tao means "Way" - the inherent flow of life. But, the Tao also says - "A way that can be walked is not The Way. A name that can be named is not The Name". There is no printed map, no AAA Tour Book, no paved highway with convenient mile markers for us in our journey to wholeness. It must have been like this for the early settlers coming through the Cumberland Gap into the territories on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains. At times, the path seems wide and easy to follow. But in some stretches of our journey, the path is narrow, thick with undergrowth, and hard to navigate. Finding our way, or The Way, seems to me to require an interesting mix of tenacity and patience. Tenacity keeps us looking, keeps us walki...

"Take on difficulties while they are still easy, do great things while they are still small. Step by step the world's burden is lifted. Piece by piece the world's treasure is amassed." . Tao 63 If you are awake, it is easy to see the challenges that face us. Injustice, violence, hatred and bigotry. At least for me, it can be so overwhelming as to tempt me to disengage. I ask myself in these moments, "What can I do? The task seems so large, the result so uncertain, what difference can one person make?" Surely, Harriet Tubman, the founder of the Underground Railroad, faced a much more stark version of this dilemma. A black woman, a slave born in the 1820's in Dorchester County, Maryland. She could have resigned herself to her fate, and the fate of her people. But, instead, she saved not only herself, but also more than 300 slaves from slavery, and personally lead them to freedom. This woman, called the "Moses of her people", made a small cho...

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books. Chinese proverb   To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. e. e. cummings. (this is my personal favorite!)   Sent from my iPad

"Blessed be the tie that binds" Sung in Harmony or In Unison It is the old Southern song, sung with longing At times of Parting And Friends, Family, Lovers, and Songs Together weave the web that holds us Together Sometimes that Woven Web breaks in one place or another The vibration of that Broken strand Shakes Us But, like that wise garden spider, we mend those broken places Building anew a beautifully mended world Doubly strong in those broken places dg 7/3/10 Still at Bongo Java East Sent from my iPad

Things work out Think of all the times you worried Needlessly About Tomorrow - (will the Sun rise) It came as it should And required your fretting - Not At All The sun rises because It is it's nature It loves to Shine What about you? dg 7/3/10 Bongo Java East Sent from my iPad

Feel What you feel Listen To what you are saying Do not silence the words No matter how loud or unsettled Pay attention to the body Mind, body There is no difference The words must come out Then, we must decide how To respond Dark, light Happy, sad Up, down All the words Together Write the story of You dg 6/27/10 Sent from my iPad