Make Haste Slowly

"Can you see the wind?  Can you see the fragrance of flowers floating on the breezes?  Can you see thought or what it is that changes a tree from bare limbs and brown leaves to lush green?  Can you see love or joy or peace?  We can only see evidence of these invisible things, and it's enough to make us know they exist.  The substance of life is so evident, so real and beautiful.  Why is it that we ever question the existence of our Creator, who set all things in motion?" 

Make haste slowly.  Don't overdo it.  Don't underdo it.  What you expect in your meditation practice is what you are most likely to get.  Your practice will therefore go best when you are looking forward to sitting.  If you sit down expecting grinding drudgery, that is probably what will occur.  Make it reasonable.  Make it fit with the rest of your life.  While this musing concerns my meditation practice it sure applies to everything else as well.

"One more step, one more effort may be all that is needed.  It would amaze us if we knew how close we are to stepping past an old barrier - and it would shake us to know how close we came to quitting."  Cherokee Proverb

I've always been sort of a dog whisperer.  I get down on the ground so I'm at dog level and I talk human/dog words to the dogs.  They almost always come around, eventually, even the skittish ones.  My favorite dog lives next door, a rescue dog who spent two years on the streets of Mexico City.  This dog loves me in a way that I can scarcely comprehend.  This dog sits on the porch and watches my house until I come out and pay her some attention.  This dog is always, always thrilled to see me, holds no grudges, forgets all slights.  Fair disclosure: I do give this dog a carrot so maybe all I'm doing is bribing this dog.  Who cares?  There's another, different dog that grabs his leash and holds it in his mouth as soon as he sees me.  A dog I see at the beach, a very skittish dog, barked at me at first.  Then he starting darting in to give me little nips on my hands.  Now he comes over and lets me pet him.  Who cares but me?  I just don't think animals like that don't have a divine purpose or place.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and cannot fail to leave a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation."  Herbert Spencer . . . maybe . . . or firstly William Paley.