Dear Reader:
The other day I came across an excerpt from the book Time and the Soul by Jacob Needleman. It made me stop, pause, and ponder. I love those moments…it is like God leads us to the inspirational thought and then waters and plants it within us.
Here is an excerpt from his book. I had to stop and re-read it several times and underline passages in my mind.
Some years ago, I was walking downtown San Francisco with a great friend and a learned Tibetan scholar. I asked him about one of the most striking ways that the Tibetans express the uniqueness of the human condition.
Imagine, they say, that deep in the vast ocean there swims a great and ancient turtle who surfaces for air once every hundred years. Imagine further that floating somewhere in the ocean is a single ox-yoke carried here and there by random waves and currents. What are the chances that when the turtle surfaces, his head will happen to emerge precisely through the center of the ox-yoke? That is how rare it is to be born as a human being!
In the middle of our conversation, I pointed to the crowds of men and women rushing by on the street and I gestured in a way to indicate not only them, but all the thousands and millions of people rushing around in the world. “Tell me, Lobsang,” I said, “if it is so rare to be born a human being, how come there are so many people in the world?”
My friend slowed his pace and then stopped. He waited for a moment, taking in my question. I remember suddenly being able to hear, as though for the first time, the loud and frenetic traffic all around us. He looked at me and very quietly replied, “How many human beings do you see?”
In a flash, I understood the meaning of the story and the idea. Most of the people I was seeing, in the inner state they were in at that moment, were not really people at all. Most were what the Tibetans call “hungry ghosts.” They did not really exist.
They were not really *there*. They were *busy*, they were *in a hurry*. They — like all of us — were obsessed with doing things *right away*. But *right away* is the opposite of *now* — the opposite of the lived present moment in which the passing of time no longer tyrannizes us.
The hungry ghosts are starved for “more” time; but the more time we hungry ghosts get, the more time we “save”, the hungrier we become, the less we actually *live*. And I understood that it is not exactly more time, more days and years, that we are starved for, it is the present moment. “Right Away” is not “Now.”
…………………………..
From a short synopsis on Needleman’s book….I found the following quote and have written it on a piece of paper where I can see it each morning at the computer.
“Needleman shows how we can understand what our days are for. It’s this understanding that allows time to finally begin to “breathe” in our lives.”
That last line really hit home…I think I mentioned in an earlier blog recently that I didn’t realize I held my breath so much when subjected to a conflict situation or even a holding time in my life… like now. Every time the phone has rung…my heart has started pounding and I have literally held my breath.
So when I “accidentally” found this line of scripture…“He has made everything beautiful in its time” I found myself releasing a lot of pent-up nervousness and then began concentrating on just how nice this moment of discovery has been…finding a “verse” that reminds me God comes “first.” He is taking care of me in His own good time.
While you are reading this today I will have (most likely) already finished my second eye/cataract surgery and will be snoozing away in my Lazy-Boy chair. Not sure what hurricane/tropical weather and my surgeries have in common...except they keep happening on the same day! (Hermine and Julia!) Thank you Anne, so much, for driving!
*One month from the day the Boo and friends will be gladly walking one more time to “run cancer out of town” and hopefully out of me! Legally Pink would appreciate your assistance in the form of donations to help us reach our goal and go over this year.
***RACE FOR THE CURE – Saturday, 10/15/16. Gates open at 7:00. Participate in a morning filled with hope, love and strength as we lace up to run breast cancer out of town!
To mail in a donation, please make checks payable to:
Susan G. Komen® Lowcountry
50 Folly Road Blvd. | Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: (843) 556-8011
Email: [email protected]
Anne brought me a lollipop surcie back from Maine….a lobster sucker. She said her granddaddy used to get these barley pops for all the siblings when she was small….shaped as different indigenous animals.
Delights of the Day: Here are some beauties that just keep on making me smile on my deck, fence, and garden!
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
I’m thinking that you are probably either just before surgery or in surgery right now. Just wanted you to know my thoughts and prayers are with you today.