Oh, well... For those of you who don't know Meister Eckhart, he was a Christian Mystic,  (1260-1328) a Pontifix (bridge-builder) himself, with quotes that have become points of contact between other traditions, such as:" The Eye with which I see God is the same Eye with which God sees me."

I've been thinking...and I read alot, and sometimes I find myself in the "slough of dispond," as Paul Bunyan would say... Some days are so bleak for me, that I actually find myself thinking, "today, I lost ground"...

I spent some time writing a rather lengthy "Daily Tao" on "War and Peace and Civilian Immunity", and the impact of war trauma on each of us. Well, for some reason everyone who responded to my request for feedback liked it, save one...and thus it sits in my Microsoft Word, gathering dust...because I do not know who I wrote it for...you or me!

Did you know "Our believing in God or not believing in God (The Creative and Sustaining Power of the Universe - Gordon) does not effect the existence of God one iota!" However, it does effect how we live,and yes, how we die.

I still conduct Weddings and Funerals and other Rites of the Church...although, as I have grown, so has my faith and my beliefs. I believe that the 'entire Bible' is summed-up in the "Golden Rule", found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 12, and the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 6, verse 31 : "Do to others as you would have them do to you'. (NIV) (also espoused by Confucius some centuries prior to Jesus uttering them) and the command of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12, verses 30 &31 "...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this : Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV) I believe everything else therein found in the Bible, is mere commentary!

Yes, even as a Veteran soldier, I believe in a Theology of Love, Kindness and Compassion !

Taoist lore has it that, after Lao Tsu had written the Tao Te Ching as entreated by the guard, the guard asked Lao Tsu to sun it all up in three things. The response was : 1. Love 2. Sufficiency and 3. Not to want to rule the world , the misnomer of the very concept of 'control'!

In my ponderings, I found this quote, written, it almost seems, for me personally. Now let me say at the onset that I am remarkedly at peace with the whole adventure that lays before me, and I still have a wonderful calm, a deep peace. However, I have often wondered about the 'stuff' left undone, unresolved within my Heart / Mind, the fears of "what-if"... Please know I am simply sharing with you some of what I am experiencing and going through; but overall, "all is well, so very well..."

Eckhart writes : "If you find yourself frightened of dying... (within a so-called, so thought'Hhellish nightmare') know this..." The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they are not punishing you, he said. They are freeing your soul...If you are frightened of dying and holding on, you will see devils tearing your life away. But if you have made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth." (Rubin 1990, p.82)... (please note that this is "symbolic" language !)

I do not find Taoism and The Bible at odds...and neither did my friend Thomas Merton... Eckhart also put it this way : "If the only thing one had to say to God (The Creative and Sustaining Power of the Universe) was "Thank You"... that would be enough" !

This is a little treasure I found on one of my walks, as I trundle / spiral through my life; and I thought I'd share it. It fits!

Blessings, Fred

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