Such a lovely morning . . . sunny, breezy, the sound of a small plane playing overhead, shadow striping the yard. Birds were out early this morning, all singing some kind of song, screeching blue jays, sleepy mourning dove whoos, mockingbirds carrying on a musical conversation with themselves, even the tiny ones peeping and cheeping, must be one of those morning when everyone has something to say!
This poem gave me a smile and a chuckle . . .
A Yorkshire Parable
I went to see the wisest man in the world-
he lived above a shop in Cleckheaton.
A nice man, he offered me tea and biscuits
before we got down to business.
Is there an omniscient being? I asked him,
one who shares an intimate
relationship with each and every one of us?
I wouldn’t really know, he said.
Well, do you believe in an afterlife?
A heaven, perhaps: or maybe reincarnation?
It would be nice, he mused-
pushing over the chocolate eclairs.
Realising I was getting nowhere with this,
I wandered over to the window
and watched as cold November light
set fire to the trees across the road.
Nice day, I ventured.
Now you’re getting somewhere, he replied.
Mike Di Placido
I just had to chuckle, kind of reminded me of a lot of the sort of Zen stories with the wise one and the student, and the student keeps trying to get the wise one to say something . . . well, something true, I guess, or something they can use, or something they can be sure of. And the wise one keeps talking about crickets, or the moon, or the full cup, keeps getting the student to sweep the floor or clean out the stable or do some other work that needs to be done. Sometimes the student finally gets the idea, sometimes they get angry and leave, sometimes they sit down next to the wise one and watch the sun set in flames over a line of trees. All the unanswerable questions are a matter of . . . faith. You believe about them what you believe, there is no proof. You might just as well live your life as honestly as you can, do what's necessary, and accept the joy and beauty of the world, along with all its heartache and sorrow, because you will never have any proof only belief, only faith. It's what you believe in, what you actually do in the world that determines the state of your . . . soul.
Nice day, isn't it?
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