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.'
. . . . .