Traversing sun leads to a new season.
Vernal breath attunes the leaves.
Tao is here. It is we who are not always in harmony with it.
Tao proceeds on its own way. It is we who are not ready to follow.
Tao is absolutely sure in its movements. It is we who involve ourselves in amusements.
Tao has no consciousness, yet it is supreme. It is we who think compulsively.
Therefore, tuning ourselves to Tao is the basic task. We must make ourselves the perfect instrument, much in the way a beautiful harp has all its strings adjusted. If we are less than sound, how will we harmonize with the universal music?
Once we are attuned, we can become open to Tao. Where it leads, we follow without hesitation. Just as a musician expresses individual talent and understanding and yet blends with the swelling magnificence of the orchestra, so too does the follower of Tao remain human and yet in harmony with the universal.
When the sun begins its new pattern, spring follows. The air warms, and the world rejoices. A new breath comes over all things, and even the trembling leaves are attuned to the vernal rhythm. Turn your face to the sun, as flowers know how to do. Turn your face to Tao, as we should all do.
We’re in the tail end of a spring storm right now, so there’s not much sun out today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit brighter.
And I’m a bit more focused on current events right now than keeping up with my Tao studies. Reading the economic blogs, working with my MoveOn group, and such. For some good reads today, try maxspeak, angry bear, and brad setser. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten today, so guess I’m having a pretty slow day, really.
Just caught a tiny bit of sun as it disappeared over the hill behind my house. Normally I post my Tao posts in the morning, so it’s strange to get to it this late in the day. With both boys home from school there were a lot of distractions today, and my email has been busy. I’ve been posting my thoughts on current affairs to my email groups, and that takes some time and effort to really think about what I want to say. Mostly trying to encourage people to make sure their financial affairs are in order and not to be in debt right now.
I feel a bit more secure in that most of my family is financially stable, other than my sister and nephew, who I worry about. But with inflation edging up, and the US deficit and trade imbalance so large, it’s hard to feel good about where the country is financially. We are so far out of tune as a nation with where we need to be, and it’s difficult to see how we can get on track. Our congress is sidetracked with circuses like the Schiavo incident instead of paying attention to our economic situation, or the general health care crisis that is coming. While Bush tries to convince us social security is in trouble, the deficit skyrockets with military spending and the health care crisis looms. Why is one woman’s life so much more important than everyone else’s health care? How about being fiscally conservative instead of just trying to rewrite the social contract?
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