from the Tao...
A while ago I received this wise story from the Tao and I'd
like to share it with you today. Lao Tzu said, "The Master gives him
(her) self up to whatever the moment brings." In the midst of your
life and the troubled realities of the world, may you experience and express
gratitude, patience, and be at peace. Even if your tail is dragging in the
mud. -Rev. Tom
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Your Life - Your Journey |
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There is a story told about a great Taoist teacher. This teacher was known
throughout the country for his wisdom. One day he was sitting and fishing in the
river when two messengers of the king appeared and asked him to become a high
official in the royal court. The sage heard their offer, and without stopping
his fishing, replied, "I have heard that the king possesses a sacred tortoise
which has been dead for three thousand years. The king, I am told, has it
wrapped in exquisite silk and keeps it in an ornately carved box where it is
stored in an especially holy part of the ancestral temple. Tell me would the
tortoise rather be dead with its bones preserved and honored, or would it rather
be alive with its tail dragging in the mud?” The two messengers agreed that it
would rather be alive with its trail dragging in the mud. “Be off with you
then,” the teacher said, “for I prefer to drag my tail in the mud.”
If we become impatient to see our ambitions realized--if we try to hasten
the day when our expectations are fully met, we are likely to lose sight of the
simple truth that it is often that when our tail is dragging in the mud that we
are most alive and most in touch with the spirit of life. What will save is the
patience of Job--a patience that remains full of the unrest that allows us to
rail against injustice, but a patience which is always open to the currents of
life, whether or not they are lofty, whether or not they are apparently
comfortable, whether or not they are what we thought we wanted or what we
deserved.
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Building a Light in the Woods |
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