Be Free and at Peace

The old man was asked, "How can I be at peace and free in this world?"
The old man answered, "When an object moves, does space move, too?"
"I see objects move."
"Do you see space move?"
"No."
"Be as space, and as space, what is there is not you. Be free and at peace."

Among The Trees

Kit was 11 at the time, and it was just before Dad's 60th birthday. We'd not been back long from Sunday service, when Dad asked Kit if he'd like to come for a walk with him through the woods bordering the lake. Kit said, 'Sure!' Dad smiled at us both and said, 'Well, bring the dog, too!' as he walked down the front steps.

When they returned, Kit talked about the frog he and Dad almost caught with their own hands, and about the small snake that slithered off the path as they approached the road back home.

Then, in a hushed voice, Kit added, 'You know Mom, I asked granddad, 'Why do you spend more time among the trees than you do among people?' And he said, 'Because they're firmly rooted and grow straight up to heaven.' Mom, What did he mean by that?'
. . . . .

Thinking Outside the Box

His chatter was increasingly annoying, and her patience was eroding fast. When Fred congratulated himself for 'thinking outside the box', she winced, and snapped, 'The only people that need to think outside the box are blockheads.'
. . . . .

Serving Time

Space doesn't exist in time, time exists in space.
The servant is the owner and host of the household.

the ruler and the saw

If you can't measure the wood, it doesn't matter how sharp the saw.

PostScript The tyranny of the ruler can put the saw to bad use; the tyranny of the saw can do a very bad job.

statement of powers

I was asked 'What is the difference between a government and a state?' I replied, 'By compact, a government serves and is answerable to me. In a state, I am its chattel, born into political ownership, and must do what it demands.'

pull out the weeds

A relationship is a garden mutually owned. If one or both finds weeds sprouting, it doesn't mean that the garden be abandoned and joint ownership dissolved. Help the garden which mutually benefits. Get down and pull out the weeds.

experience speaks

After being introduced by Professor Guerrero, the old journalist casually leaned back against the chalkboard with arms crossed and looked over the class of students like a hawk looking for prey. One student began to shift in his chair, two began to cough, then another.

Thinking to himself, "Son los míos", he stood up straight, took three steps forward, and spoke in a voice as strong as Stentor's, "Journalism isn't an art, and it isn't a science. It's a triumph."

The old journalist paused, reviewed the looks of astonishment with satisfaction, then proceeded at a more natural volume, "To any who think journalism is as easy as reading and paper the cost of good writing, I say this, journalism is quite simply chipping away at nothing and coming up with something that keeps the reader glued until the last period, and makes him glad he was. Now you do it."
. . . . .

Buford’s Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I think the wellbein’ of any upright person is made from the sweat of the brow an' the time to enjoy life to boot. Look at me. I work hard at Sam’s warehouse from 6 in the mornin’, then play checkers with Jethro after work, follow' by'a watermelon seed spittin' contest for a pack of gum with Billy-Bob, then play the ocarina to my sweetheart Lilly, follow' by suppin' with ma an' pa, then go on this ol' hand-me-down ‘puter to scratch my head an' think of somethin' to do with it, then so tuckered out I go to bed an' sleep it all off. Y'all do the same, I reckon. Excep' play the ocarina to my sweetheart Lilly, acourse.

Then lately, I get to thinkin’ bout politics. These politicians, they promise alot, an’ make ya feel like ya rootin’ for a football team in the playoffs, but I know government ain’t a sport an' it sure ain't a legal business so the money for all these ideas would have to be comin’ from outa the wallets of folks like me an' my neighbors. Then I get steamin’.

Now there’s talk they want to take care bout folks’ health. I didn’t see that care after a storm came in an’ blowed granny’s house down like the big bad wolf. They can put a few men on the moon with the help of some of granny’s hard earned wages but won't help her with some wood and a few men to fix an ol’ house. Somethin' strangely unbalanced about politicians.

What does granny get instead? After church, gets to watch well paid politicians on Sunday morning TV at Martha’s trailer sassing each other with polite impoliteness an' some lookin’ to granny like they havin’ sissy fits.

I think I’d rather be free an' die young than to have Washington politicians take more of my life's labor in cash an’ manage my life at 'no cost' till the day I die. I don’t like their deal. They all made a mess of everything else they manage, anyway.

So, horsefeathers. I ain't their huckleberry.

Sincerely,
Buford

In Defense of Intelligence

You don't pull the apple tree out by its roots for critical examination to decide if you'll eat its fruit.

Rubrics of Happiness

I was asked, 'What can ensure my happiness?' I replied, 'Eliminate surprise; do not under-estimate the bad. Eliminate disappointment; do not over-estimate the good.'

Baka Kaže

[an impression written immediately after traveling to Slavonski Brod to visit a friend's 93 year old baka whose family life, to express it gently, was a disappointment to her. She died in October, four weeks later.]

Simplicity ~
in it no comfort,
none to find
in me its renown.

Stillness ~
in it no comfort,
so many to crush its door,
and then comes a light so dark.

Ah, but yet death's dawn,
its darkness so radient, calm and peaceful.

The Old Priest's Paper

after the funeral of the old priest, two fellow priests dutifully sorted through his meager belongings. they found a torn paper yellowed with age with the following faded penned script.

so be keen my young priest. observe without effort.
observe yourself and others without distinction. we
are all known and know others by these tokens ...

incidental remarks
strong declarations
opinions expressed
gossip spoken

judgements made
biases disclosed
prejudices exhibited
preferences performed

what is accepted
what is tolerated
what is rejected

what is praised
what is accused
what is approved
what is ridiculed

what is forgiven or not
what is excused or not
and what is excused or forgiven but not forgotten

questions not answered
questions evaded
questions given a question
questions given a lie
or the extent of an answer
and by the way an answer is given

how much time spent alone
how much time spent with others

who time is spent with
how much time is spent
how that time is spent
what is said about the time spent
and what is said about the company kept
compared to what may be known later

who is liked of those that don't know they are
and why they are liked
who is disliked of those that don't know they are
and why they are disliked

who is helped, friend, foe, neighbor or stranger
and by what means and extent, or who is not,
and whether the deed or its lost opportunity
is happily remembered, sadly regretted, or forgotten

and remember, my young priest, words are by the
mouth, actions by the entire body. Always best both
mouth and body agree, and wisely. we will speak
of all this more soon.
. . . . .

undergoing a blog redesign

After my experience a year ago, and the effort drove me crazy, I'm renovating this old blog again.

love learns

In love we learn then live our love.

now a word from our sponsor

Heaven's economy is not based on production. It's based on behaviour.

on being content

Better to have a daisy than to seek for a rose without thorns. The common is better than the trouble.

clarity unmediated

Think without words; be aware without thought.

distinguishing efforts

mediocrity does nothing more than it can
virtuosity does everything more than it must

balance

I was asked, "How do I keep my balance in life?" I replied, "In the same way you do when you walk a rail."

before there was religion

In my travels through other lands and immersed in their cultures, I am not drawn nor tempted into debate about religions. I am at peace and natural with others.

Yet if any conversation, whether by provocative mischief or sincere critique, suddenly looks for disagreement, I explain in unapologetic innocence, ‘Before there was religion, there is God and me.'

where nothing is

The value of any two links is that they join by embracing each other through the place where nothing is in each. Each link retains its individuality yet together gain a new identity. And so it is with us.

living summations

"To have" or "to be"? Crippled in one, we are whole in two.

close companions

Every weakness in one person has in another a corresponding mate called complaint.

calculated or inspired

To be led requires trust, to follow, belief.

superlative

I was asked, 'How can I describe a superlative?' I replied, 'With the silence of a smile.'

welcome to the academy of applied failures

Lesson one. Repeat this after me. "I can't" means I will not do the things necessary to achieve the ends I claim I want.

just another flower

The young man explained his difficulty in love. The old man advised, "Don't be just another flower in a field of flowers a woman loves."

friends in misfortune

Friends are like leaves on a tree. When the great winds of misfortune blow few, if any, remain.

already employed

Truth is the servant of no one.

benefit of loss

Losing everything from weakness, you will certainly lose nothing by being strong.

identity

What acts is the act.

heaven's choice

Empty of power he can be its vessel, disdaining power he receives it, Heaven knowing well all will benefit.

never-ending competition

A young lady in the back row stood up and asked the professor, 'What types of doctrines do you think currently effect the situation in this country?'

The professor paused for a few seconds then said, 'Let me make what may sound like a poetically naive remark and then, elaborating, answer your question more specifically. There are two types of doctrines that continually compete for influence in human affairs: those that tear and rend, and those that unite and blend.'
. . . . .

political economy

There are those whose acts, even sacrifices, are governed and proceed from their beliefs, and there are those, always those, ever prepared to gain from these acts ~ at the believer's expense.

we are attached

We are all creatures of attachment.

as i am

It was their first date. She was lovely, articulate, intelligent ~ and very inquisitive. Growing increasingly uncomfortable and puzzled by her persistent questions about his past accomplishments, Sam excused himself and said, 'What I have done means nothing to me for the present. Nor should it to you. You build memories with me not with my past.'
. . . . .

a closed mind

A closed mind is like a crypt. If you have the patient fortitude to jar it open, you will only find the remains of what once lived.

sound illumination

This unusually expressive monk finished reading and said, ‘God spoke "Let there be light." Sound illuminates!’ The monk noticed Gretchen's look of surprise. ‘Or perhaps’, added the monk with a subtle smile and more disciplined manner, ‘sound is preeminent to light. His sound calls, there is response, then light is let to be.’
. . . . .

in the company of a 'know-it-all'

Asking two or more consecutive questions commands the conversation. So when in the company of an obnoxious know-it-all, question! Let him speak! You know what he knows, too, as soon as it passes his lips.

mirroring values

We act out of our values and in so doing we act to them.

social intelligence

Life is too short to live intelligently for the whim and convenience of others. Live intelligently for yourself.

at odds

Life's purpose is to grow old.
Evil's design is to be sure it doesn't.

the curious side of motherhood

There are mothers who raise their sons to be the kind of men they wouldn't want to marry.

where are you?

Success has no address; failure does.

change the frame

A bad frame of mind distorts the picture we see. Change the frame to improve the picture.

in every herd

Out of every herd of horses is a jackass.

bullying ignorance

I was asked ˝What is ignorance?˝ I replied, ˝Ignorance is a small amount of knowledge expecting a large amount of knowledge to yield. Strength is challenged, weakness exploited.˝

you and the unconscionable liar

Avoid unconscionable liars. They cannibalize reputation, property, and money. They steal past, present and future.

build it within

If the house of God is not built within it is not built anywhere at all.

the fragile intangible

Trust is the most fragile of human intangibles.

a complete success

To be a complete success in life be good and be good at something.

changing modality

In human life, everything is a variation on a theme. In one's life, change the theme, change the variations.

your very own

Love is a bank.

honesty

Honesty is sense in judgement, knowing right from wrong, doing what is expected, telling the truth, doing the truth, and accepting it.

union compared

Possession of knowledge is inferior to union with it. In deed, any possession is inferior to union.

foxes and the hound of truth

We are foxes, and when the hound of truth catches us he will grip us firmly in his teeth and not let us go until his master comes and decides.

servitude

I was asked, ¨What is servitude?¨I replied, ¨It is obligation without authority, performance without power, accomplishment without praise.¨

helpful limits

Let go the drowning dog that bites you.

those who don't seek

Ignorance is ubiquitous power over those who don't seek.

two halves complete

The heart is made of two halves and so is love.

in the ring

Purpose, plan, practice, pluck; let fate follow.

how durable belief?

A belief is tested by one's commitment to it in the face of obstacles, and one's devotion to it in the face of destruction.

prayer's seasons

The Spring of Life prays, "Thy voice, teach me to heed."
The Autumn of Life prays, "I heed thy voice, teach me."

discretion

Better to be a mystery than a fool.

live in this day

live the rest of your life in this day
live today as you wish to live the rest of your life
live the way you will be happy to remember you've lived this day

let go

To ascend you must be detached. To fly and soar, the eagle lets go of the limb.

an unshadowing love

Unconditional love: where those in its presence have no shadows.

an uncomfortable good

If your conscience is annoyingly present at critical moments, be grateful. The self-righteous and evil don't have this problem.

avoid absurdity

Inference based, theories cannot account for factual or dynamic anomalies. They are intellectual appealling high-brow fictive explanations that institutionally satisfy in spite of limitations that are often marginalized, hidden, or dismissed. Not explaining everything, they are only tentative explanations. As a result, theories should never be dogmas or ideologies.

act in the power of simplicity

After advising the young man, the old man added, ˝Power is in the simple, so the solutions are powerful because they are simple. You will see it so and act in the power of this simplicity.˝

those true to themselves

I have found that those true to themselves are too often true to no one else.

wagging the dog

I was asked ˝What is political power?˝ I replied, ˝The tail wagging the dog.˝

hearts

Some follow their hearts, others have hearts that struggle hard to follow them. Then there are those hearts that have nothing to lead or to follow.

focus

The impotence of intent summed in the phrase "I wish I had" should lead the heart to the power of attention to present concerns summed in the phrase "I will".

for the love of being correct

The ego can be an obnoxious companion. In expressing your thoughts, facts or opinions, sequester your ego, graciously ready to be corrected if conversation finds you in error.

constant among variables

My head may turn to other things, not my heart.

wrong all around

Excessive patience can be as wrong as the wrong done in the face of patience.

the intimate prayer of exquisite simplicity

As was his particular habit the first evening of each school year, the portly Headmaster strolled with imposing presence and measured footfalls through the school's dormitory biding each new young student an amiable good night.

Approaching the door of the last room, the Headmaster immediately stopped as he overheard the most intimate prayer of exquisite simplicity:

Lord
This is me
This is your's
This is thanks
This is all
Amen

. . . . .

perfect faith

Not knowing the mechanics and physics of flight, the bird flies. Perfect faith is not the precedent to action but is the act itself.

break out of the bell curve

Don't compare yourself to others; rise above your instincts. Break out of the bell curve.

cleverness

I was asked, ˝What is cleverness?˝ I replied, ˝Negligence in the long term.˝

the inscrutable you

Why complain about heaven's ways being so inscrutable when your ways are so curiously inscrutable to your neighbor? It's a little like one dog looking quizzically at another dog barking at the moon.

measuring success

The measure of a man's life is not his success but what he gave up or sacrificed to achieve it.

changing places

Our death is something that happens to others.

in any event

Not every possible act is necessary nor has the same probability of performance or occurrence as another. And though not every past act was necessary, each is evidence it was possible.

beyond the limits of cause

Physics has ˝causing˝, life ˝making˝. Applying ˝causing˝ to life activities compels a necessity that does not abide freedom that is the complement of choice and decision, the operational characteristics of life. ˝Cause˝ has no choice, ˝make˝ does.

yes, no, and maybe

In business dealings, remember this: yes is yes, no is no, and maybe is no unless it becomes yes.

no secrets in the afterlife

There are no secrets in the afterlife. You will be known in a way you are not known now.

matching within and without

There are truths within us and without us. When these truths match we are whole.

Secret match the truths without

meanness

Meanness, born of an ill heart, never weaned from its mother, paid for once with an entire life, with dishonest ledger has but one aim ~ to wreck, ruin, or annihilate.

balthasar gracian: a reading's afterthought

There is a clear distinction between choices of right and wrong that pervasively dissimulating complications can only disturb. The more variables and subtleties of deceit and heartless pre-eminence of self-interest and advantage sought among a people, the more craft required to perform right, let alone the slender tensile interior strength required to incline to it.

Percipient cunning, commanding appropriate oblique measures with care and employing attentive, distracting charm, can be just as necessary to perform right as it is used by villainy to mock it. Application is different, as are the results, in one act or many, over time or an instant, delivering on occassion the bad to hell with finesse while serving heaven to the good with grace.

nothing is lost

What I lose is not lost to God.

degree of exposure

When you're at the pinnacle of success, you have 360 degree exposure. Of course, that's not the same degree of exposure you have at the bottom of the barrel.

little things

Little things have a magnitude disproportionate to themselves. And in such lies greatness.

a father's love

I have found that much that I do that I identify myself with is done for my children. They are the edifice upon which I raise my efforts, and yet they are to the world’s eye, at best, an inconspicuous foundation to all I do and am. I do not trumpet my love, but my devotion to my children is deep. I believe this is typical of fatherhood: the oblique expression of love for children to whom the father is deeply committed.

go ahead

Standing on nothing, nothing is lost if a step is taken.

made by belief

We are what we believe, not what we believe we are.

acquiring new strenghts

Disciple: one who learns under another's discipline. To be taught and trained requires giving up freedoms to acquire new strengths.

nature

I was asked, 'What is nature?' I replied, 'Nature is intelligence without an I.'

an act of kindness

An act of kindness is equal to an eternity of friendship.

shilling trust

Whatever a man's distinction, be they breeding, education, drive, charm, or entrusted responsibilities, they may be given too much esteem and account a man too well. Such distinctions can lead to unwarranted regard. Consider the apostles. Eleven of the twelve never suspected their treasurer of treachery.

spared the incompatible

Don't be concerned about being rejected; you've just been spared the company of the incompatible.

misers begging

How absurd ~ the misers of mercy begging Heaven's gifts.

answers to a prayer

[a true story]

There was once a man deeply troubled in love who earnestly asked Heaven to send him the highest angel to help. Then one night an angel came. ¨I am he¨, the angel said. The angel showed this man a vision ~ among others so real ~ of a young man and woman seated at table writing. Standing over them were another young man and woman watching. The angel said, ¨Do as you see. With the woman you love, write all the things you each privately and publicly want and need. Have with you others who know you both. They will insure nothing is left out.¨ Embarrassed, this man asked, ¨Even our most intimate wants and needs?¨ ¨Yes,¨ replied the angel, ¨Then exchange your writings.¨
. . . . .

possessing an instrument

Never confuse the possession of an instrument ~ tool, body, or mind ~ with the ability to use it. All instruments require mastery, and mastery is acquired by the application of one's life to it.

how a story is told

When events are the result of lies, duplicities, and deceptions, they become complicated stories to tell. They require much fore-thought, organization and effort to explain. Honesty, truth and integrity may have their mysteries, but the stories that result are always straight-forward and simple.

excellence

I was asked, 'What is excellence?' I replied, 'Excellence is where intent and actions are equal, uniform and commensurate vectors achieving an outcome that is good or beautiful to the elevation of life.'

scratching the head in wonder

Reckoning by their impatience, I am slow to learn the lessons others wish to teach me. But by and by I master their lessons to often discover that those who taught me have yet to learn the lessons they teach.

the ends we value

Goal is value. We can measure the value of our goal by how many other goals it displaces. The goal we ultimately value, however, is the one for which we are prepared to risk other great values.

comforting impulse

Opportunity implicates proximity. We seize what is near.

the straight line of the circle

All that is hidden is pregnant ~
All that is revealing is birthing ~
Revealing is continual because the hidden is perpetual.

tyranny's hunt for the just

I was asked, ¨What is tyranny?¨ I replied, ¨Tyranny is where the unjust hunt the just as outlaws.

¨

strength in love

Love has beauty. Truth has strength and lends its strength to Love. Then Love's beauty cannot be sullied, nor its tenderness compromised.

transacting

We trade on values, not principles.

precious distinctions

Be generous with your love, and spend your time as tho it were scarce.

you make the difference

Unhappiness and dissatisfaction are completely different. Unhappiness is the sense you cannot alter events. Dissatisfaction is the prelude to doing just that.

the ridiculously stupid

One does not drink a cupful of wine from a tub. Let the means fit the purpose. Ostentation can be ridiculously stupid.

leadership and management skills

[opening paragraph for a conference paper]

Leadership and management skills: they are an academic's tautology, a binary god in the cosmology of modern management theory, fraternal twins profitably employed in the pursuit of every organization's goals and objectives. Though uniquely different, neither can be successfully subsumed under the other; they mutually benefit.
. . . . .

change your attitude

The chief problem with a sense of superiority is that it is made from such inferior material.

the usual problem

The problem isn't that there are bad people in the world. There will always be bad people. The problem is that good people think they're too good to come together to fight the bad.

be as air and wind

Until one is as light as the air and moves as the wind he is still attached to the world.

the heretic in academe

Shaking his head and chuckling while reading Scientific American, the young physics professor was overheard saying to himself, 'People believe in time but not God. Idiots. People submit to space but not God. Morons. People bow to gravity but not God. Imbeciles.'

be smart

The mind makes too many mistakes not to be joined with the heart before it's right.

[untitled]

Life resonates with symphonies that resonate Life as Nature belies a one note composer with a single score.

time and place

The young man finished by summarizing, 'Thus you need time to make place.'

The old man replied by reminding him, 'But you said time is known by objects, their existence, change and alteration and movement. So, if time is a function of objects ~ or possibly an inherent property or attribute as your reasoning suggests ~ then I need place first for objects; I need space for time.'

the truth about love

God's love is not at the expense of truth. Indeed, love resides in truth, and love is unconditional because truth is unconditional. Truth is what is, and not as we wish what is to be. Thus God's love for you is not at the expense of truth about you.

gratitude gratuitously given

This is God's world, and the leaves of the tree can complain and lament as they dance in the wind and breeze that they wish to be free to wander, but should they, they are already dead and under the whim of the wind. Let the leaf be grateful for the twig, the twig for the branch, the branch for the trunk, the trunk its roots, the roots and trunk the seed, and the seed for the earth's womb and the nurturing sky.

concealment's publicity

Confession of faith alone can conceal a great deal of disbelief; works alone can conceal a bad heart.

no harmony, no balance

Man's free will is an example to Nature to be satisfied with itself.

bless now

The past is gone, the future is yet to be; I bless Now, and in the root of this blessing is my thanks to God.

lipping ignorance

Labels are a limited vocabulary improperly used by those who find knowing an effort and thinking an inconvenience.

the most important person revealed

Who you turn to first and the frequency reveals the most important person in your life.

appearing from an exit

The very nature of existence is the appearance from an exit.

the unintended consequence

Judgment often asserts inferiority, but not always the object of the judgment.

to vie

To vie, one seeks to equal or exceed his rival. Perhaps, therefore, the aspiration for spiritual perfection is because evil appears to be so perfect. But to be perfect in form does not mean excellence in use. It is better to aspire to spiritual excellence which is the best answer to evil than the narrow, rigid, and self-attentive way of perfection.

mind the body

We have so abstracted that portion of life called mind that we are compelled to think in terms of a mind, body dichotomy. Yet, they are one and the same. The body is mind; intelligence permeates the entire body.

fatal conceit

Fatalism is a conceit.

hollow hearts, empty heads

[written of those who live murmuring complaints]

Winds none the loner
Tho no bounds beleague
Their lullen choir
Singing sullen siege
. . . . .

with whom i am

I am not sure whether I am a crow or an eagle, but when I am in excellent company I know I am a dove.

recount with caution

Exercise care in admitting your faults and mistakes. Such off-hand or deliberate confessions will be remembered and quoted to your detriment. There are many who, in not admitting their own shortcomings, protect their image by recounting yours.

join the future now

Regret is not meant to arrest time, but to join the future in correction now.

a eulogy in his own words

'The world has changed. There are few occupations that exist in this day requiring men of the old order. Few jobs still require the raw muscular strength and fear-facing grit that manhood is capable. Sinews of muscle, grunts, and sweat have given way to imperceptible breathing, légèreté on levers, buttons and keyboards, and soothing wisps of refrigerated air.

Firefighters are a remnant of that old order which few want to, or are able to, emulate. These men fight with pike axes, plaster hooks, halagan tools, ladders, hoses, pipes and water against one of the most destructive forces in nature.

But these men aren't defined by their occupation. Their life-risking deeds define their occupation. I know this from observing these men. I know it from experience. I was once one of them.'
. . . . .

that breed of family

There is that breed of family that hymns the eternal truths, piously salutes the Creator of all each sabbath, yet will make one of their own look good at the expense of others, endorse one of their own to the detriment of others, and protect one of their own from a justice they themselves would pursue against others.

friendship

Friendship: the acceptance of another as our self, and seeking his interest as if our own.

beneath words

The old man answered the young man, 'Something that sounds absurd - because it's unfamiliar - may give the lie to what's accepted. Associations hidden by common usage of language can be discovered.'

The old man took pencil and paper and wrote, 'a cause from a cause that comes from an effect.' After writing a list of prepositions beneath the words 'from', he instructed the young man, 'Now make substitutions for each 'from' in any combination. My point will be evident.'

bookends

When you achieve your goal you achieve your decision.

everything in sequence

Can't sharpen the blade when you're still forging the steel.

life finds

I have found that life finds.

the least attractive side of evil

You can always identify the least attractive side of evil ~ it believes doing good is a loss.

arts of conversation

So many skilled in the art of mortal conversation but so few in the eternal one.

blend in uniqueness

We are all unconnected but want to be touched, to have the benefit of connection without the loss of individuality, without the loss of identity. If we would only realize, man and woman, that there is no more loss of that uniqueness we feel is our's than there is loss in the colors in the rainbow. Each is distinguished from the other in their connections, while each is joined in a pleasant blend.

in the white

There are those who, in leading a tidy life, see everything in black and white. With such a convenient vision of life, these comfortably see themselves in the white.

payment

Our debts are paid with our loves and wishes.

boldness in restraint

Boldness in restraint is as great as boldness in action. Restraint is a measure of discipline of will and volition without disfiguring integrity of need, means, and intent.

Bold acts have far fewer opportunities to be performed where risk and loss are at their greatest, but restraint is not performed as often as all its frequent opportunities.

"nirvana"

I see that I see
I hear that I hear
I speak that I speak
I am that I am ~
This is that it is
So I am

your test

One man's trials are another man's test.

Insight your test is what you do in the face of another's trials

innocence's avenger

He said, 'Never with evil intent harm Innocence. Innocence has an avenger who will come. He will be more singular, his attention more focused, his sense of purpose more keen than yours. He will hunt you for retribution better than you hunted for mischief.'
. . . . .

destiny's double helix

I have thought on this a long time and think there are two destinies in each person's life: the one that is given & one that is chosen. We can ask Heaven to change the one given, and we can change the one we chose.

tomorrows today

Tomorrows are lived today.