Finding our way...

"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 walking, but with the essential patience to wait and clear a fallen tree that blocks our path - when we must.

If we rush ahead recklessly - as I am so prone to do - we may lose our way Or even take others along with us on our "wild goose chase" adventure.

It surely takes all of our attention, intention, and intuition to make our way through those unexplored areas of our life.

Sometimes we are forced to retrace our steps to a familiar spot, having reached an impasse we cannot traverse. And other times, still, we reach an open space where we seemingly sprint the path - making what we think to be "great progress".

But, for me, the challenge is to remember that it is staying on The Path, not how far or fast I run - that is most important.

dg

7/8/2010

P.S. - Please feel free to forward these emails to anyone you think might enjoy them. If they let me know, I can add them to my distribution list.

Nemastè.

David

Sent from my iPad

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