René Daumel, quoted in Parabola, Volume 34, No. 3, Fall 2009, p. 56.
Another way of putting it would be (without knowing Chinese) to propose this new translation of the first line of the Tao Te Ching: “A way that is entirely laid out, no, it is not the way.” I told you that I have encountered in my life a true teaching. One of the signs of its truth, for me, is that it never proposes an entirely prescribed path. No, at every step the entire dilemma is revisited. For me, nothing is resolved once and for all. And what I have always loved in you is your refusal of a prearranged path, and that’s important to me because alone one can’t sustain such a position. We must be a number of people to help each other, to awaken each other.
2 comments:
We often wish for purity, simplicity, and resolution, but then find that life is complicated and ever changing. Our call is ever changing. How much easier it would be if our path were laid out before us once and for all, and all we had to do was follow it. Yet being ourselves is a twisty turny road. Our path always leads to just this moment.
Loving God, help me to take the next step on my path. Give me the openness, the listening, the readiness, the courage to keep walking along the path that you have prepared for me and me alone.
How encouraging, this reading that welcomes the twists and turns of life on life's terms, the uncertainties that arise with each new day and new stage of living. Holiest Spirit, help me to see Your light shining on the path to follow with You today. Thank You.
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