Korzybski asks poignant question. He dedicated his life to finding an answer. What are your thoughts about the question he poised?
It’s Sunday. I went for a long walk in a nearby park. A walking, jogging, bike riding paved trail runs through miles of south Texas landscape. The former ranch is now covered with prickly pear cactus, yucca, cedar trees, and live oak trees. A sign at the trail head warns travelers to watch out for mountain lions, feral hogs, rattlesnakes, coyotes, and dangerous insects. The warning does not stop people from using the trail.
At the midpoint of my walk, I spotted a father and his two children, one boy, one girl stooping near the edge of the trail. Their three bicycles lay nearby just off the path. The children appeared to be between eight to ten years old. The boy was the younger child.
As I approached them, the boy turned and looked up at me. He said, “This baby bird is hurt. Do you know how to help him?”
The boy’s father and his sister looked at me. In front of the small boy was an open water bottle and straw. He was using the straw to transfer water from his bottle to the bird’s mouth. I told them them they were doing the best they could and making the baby bird feel comfortable.
I walked on filled with renewed hope for the future. When young children care deeply for the environment and its living creatures, there is hope for the future. I promised myself to learn from them and practice the lessons they taught me.
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.
True words aren’t eloquent;
eloquent words aren’t true.
Wise men don’t need to prove their point;
men who need to prove their point aren’t wise.
The Master has no possessions.
The more he does for others,
the happier he is.
The more he gives to others,
the wealthier he is.
The Tao nourishes by not forcing.
By not dominating, the Master leads.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell, Tao Te Ching Verse 81
We two make home of any place we go;
We two find joy in any kind of weather;
Or if the earth is clothed in bloom or snow,
If summer days invite, or bleak winds blow,
What matters it if we two are together?
We two, we two, we make our world, our weather.
We two make banquets of the plainest fare;
In every cup we find the thrill of pleasure;
We hide with wreaths the furrowed brow of care,
And win to smiles the set lips of despair.
For us life always moves with lilting measure;
We two, we two, we make our world, our pleasure.
We two find youth renewed with every dawn;
Each day holds something of an unknown glory.
p. 21We waste no thought on grief or pleasure gone;
Tricked out like hope, time leads us on and on,
And thrums upon his harp new song or story.
We two, we two, we find the paths of glory.
We two make heaven here on this little earth;
We do not need to wait for realms eternal.
We know the use of tears, know sorrow’s worth,
And pain for us is always love’s rebirth.
Our paths lead closely by the paths supernal;
We two, we two, we live in love eternal.
What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.
I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.
We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.
