December 17, 2023

01

Control controls the direction and flow 
of life over time.
Ownership and control
are the things that matter.
Slippery like mercury.
Always dancing away,
just out of reach,
an ephemeral eternal tease
playing the wannabes
all the way to their grave.

What else is there to want?
To have?
To ponder?
To do?

If you are not in control,
you are being controlled.

No one fears anything
like a controller fears
being out of control,
being without control.
being controlled,

Creating weal,
making woe,
just because they can. 

The greatest game there is.

It helps to pass the time.

02

Beyond opinion 
there is just being with what is,
as the Buddha was "one thus come"
to be with what is.

Trees do that all the time
Just being themselves
being with what is.

It is nature's way,
being as it is
with what is.

Being as we are,
who we are,
how we are,
when we are,
where we are,
what we are,
with what is.

No wanting anything more
than just this
here, now.

No opinions.
No plans.
No agendas.
No designs.
No aspirations.
No destinations.
Just being.
Here, now.

Letting ourselves be
as we are,
where we are,
when we are,
here, now.

03

I am glad to be no longer
where I once was.
My station in life has improved
significantly,
and my chances with it.

My chances of being who I am.
Of being open to what is
and free to say yes and no
as I feel like they need to be said.

Yes and no are the ultimate freedom.
I wish everyone were that free.
Free to say yes and no 
as they need to be said.

My heart aches for those
who are not that free.

They are everywhere.
I see them every day.

They could start 
by saying yes to what needs a yes
and saying no to what needs a no
where they are,
as they are,
and seeing where that takes them.

My hunch is that most of us are that free,
and fail to exercise our freedom
to say yes and no
as they need to be said
wherever we are.

No?

04

Ego gets a bad rap.
Everyone disses ego.
Wants to ditch ego.
Talks about how 
if it weren't for ego 
we would be just fine.

That damn ego keeps getting
in the way!

But.
Who is it that gets rid of ego?
If we could rid ourselves of ego,
who would remain to be just fine?

Ego is always wanting something,
and wanting to be without ego
is wanting something,
so ego wants to dismiss ego
and think, "How heroic of me to do that!"

We're kidding ourselves
to think about disappearing ego.
What we need to disappear is greed.
Wanting more than we have any business having.

To want the end of wanting is ridiculous.
Life is wanting.
Having preferences.
Everything wants to breathe.
Wants the next breath.
To eat.
To know where the next meal is coming from.
To reproduce.
To have it made.
To be enlightened.
To be egoless...

There is no end to it.
So, it is our place to want within
a reasonable range.

It is certainly reasonable 
to want to go to the toilet.

Rein wanting in
but do not get rid of it entirely!

Just tell it to behave itself. 
And stop trying to run the show,
always striving to have my way NOW
and get what I want NOW!
To hell with anything,
anybody, IN MY WAY!

That's a bit extreme.
We can do better than that!

05

If you stand for the flag
without standing 
for what the flag stands for--
Liberty!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!--
you aren't standing for the flag.

And, if you are standing
for the Confederate Flag,
or the Nazi Flag,
you are making a mockery
of standing for anything at all--
because those things
are empty of every noble and worthy thing.

06

I would like to be confident
that we all are capable
of standing in reverent awe
before That Which Is Worthy
Of The Best We Have To Offer,
which I call "The Mystery."

But, I think history proves me wrong.
Even so, I think we are capable of doing so,
though we may never live long enogh
to realize our capability.

And that is a heavy weight of sadness
upon my heart.
What do we find to be of more value
than The Mystery behind it all?
At the bottom of the pie?

Living in service to The Mystery
is all and everything to me.
And any of us can take that up
at any time!

Why not?
What do we find to be worth more than that?
Thirty pieces of silver?
Shiny beads and silver mirrors?

We live too cheaply to be worthy of life.
Too shallow to be capable of life.
Life is wasted on us.
Worms and maggots cannot help
being as they are.
We can,
and don't.

07

As far as I know,
I get along fairly well 
with people who see things differently 
that I do. 

That applies to my nuclear family,
my family of origin
members of every congregation I ever served,
etc. throughout my life.

But not everyone can say this.
There are people who feel as though
they have to kill people who are different from them.
Other people have to shun
those who are different.

Churches excommunicate members
who don't believe what everyone else
in those churches believe!

THIS IS SO CRAZY I CAN'T SEE 
WHAT I'M TYPING!!!

And I find myself saying,
"I hate it. I hate it. I can't stand it."
Several times throughout the day
for no apparent reason at all
beyond the seeping craziness
on every side.

08