February 14, 2024

01

When we are taken over by the moment
and do what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
because it needs to be done,
anyway, 
nevertheless,
even so,
it changes everything.

We don't even have to believe it
to know that it is so.
We only have to allow ourselves
to be possessed by the moment.
One moment at a time.

02

The rumbling has subsided,
but the flow has yet to return.
And now the waiting
for coffee to have its appeal,
and going to the grocery store to matter,
and life to come back
bit by bit
over time.

03

What governs how we see what we look at?
Why we feel the way we feel?
What goes into our being how we are
at any point during the day?

How conscious are we of being conscious?
Of seeing our seeing,
hearing what we are saying
and how we are saying it,
knowing what needs to be done
and being right about it?

Who is guiding our boat
on its path through the sea,
minute by minute,
day by day?

What is the nature of our impulses?
Who can we be trusted to be?

How do we evaluate our behavior?
And govern our actions?

Where do we get the idea
that the way we do things
is the way to do things?

04

The idea that God could look at every baby at birth
and say,
"I hate you with all my being!
I despise you with compete revulsion!
And I would send you straight to hell
if it weren't for the death of Jesus my dearest love.
He is the only thing standing between you
and the molten lava of everlasting torment!
And you better be glad forever!"
Is the most disgusting,
repulsive,
implausible scene
in the entire realm of scenes,
and it has sold to admiring audiences
for millennia.

Talk about a sales pitch!
"God's love for you is unconditional
and he will send you straight to hell
if you don't believe it!"

I am left agape and agog.

05

Pouting doesn't reduce the number
of things to pout about 
for those who are prone to pouting.

Nothing does.

If it isn't coming, it's going.

Our place is to let come what's coming
and to let go what's going,
without adding up our losses,
considering our chances,
or weighing the liabilities.

We either bear the pain or we don't,
and refusing to
adds to the cumulative weight of our load.
How well we bear what is ours to carry
is the mark we leave behind,
lightening or loading others
with what is theirs to bear.

Allowing things to be what they are,
as they are,
for as long as they are,
without opinion,
expectation,
disappointment
or dejection
is the balance point
at the center 
of the turning world.  

06

Marianne Moore said,
"The cure for loneliness is solitude."

It is also the doorway to balance and harmony,
integrity,
sincerity,
spontaneity,
spirit,
vitality
and peace with yourself
and all things,
allowing oneness with your original nature
and your innate virtuousities
that make you unique among
humankind
and a blessing and a grace
unto all those who share the world with you.

07