The Circle Holds the Story, Debra Olin
Context. Connection. Engagement.
If we understand these words,
We do not need esoteric terms.We can say that Tao is the context for everything, but we must go deeper than that.
All things are relative to their surroundings and to us. Strictly speaking, something that is one way to us will be another way to someone else. It might be very subtle, but there will be differences worth considering.
What do we do with this understanding? First, we have to reconsider that all things are connected. Although the angles of relationships shift and differ for each of us, we must be aware of the actual connections and even take advantage of them.
Secondly, we have to understand that relationships are transitory. We must have constant awareness to fit ourselves into the changing constellations of life.
Thirdly, we have to understand the value of our own point of view. Out of this mass of changing concordances, we must pick out the coordinates by which we act at any given moment.
We should take comfort in this situation. As long as we engage life fully, we need not fear being separated from the essential current of life.
“I’d like to meet you
In a timeless placeless place
Somewhere out of context
And beyond all consequences.”— Suzanne Vega
“Making mental connections is our most crucial learning tool, the essence of human intelligence; to forge links; to go beyond the given; to see patterns, relationships, context”
— Marilyn Ferguson
“In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Accepting the end of relationships is probably the hardest thing in life for me. Losing my parents, losing friends, realizing that relationships are transitory – that has been insanely dfifficult for me. Yes, literally insanely – it drove me mad for a bit. Coming back to the world and accepting it as it is really is the most difficult part of the hero’s journey, the difficult part of the path of Tao as well. We would love to be with Tao all the time, in that flow that brings us peace and the sureness and calm that we feel when we are most with the Tao.
But.
My interruption for this morning is my younger son’s school progress report, which is not good. While I try to let the boys follow their own path, sometimes, I have to interrupt their path and remind them that they do not live in isolation from the context of school right now. There are simply things they must do, like homework. They don’t like this idea, but there it is.
But.
I have to put that into context, which is that they are great kids. No drugs, no alcohol, no social problems, no real rebellion. We get along well and I enjoy them as people. So there is good stuff going on. I simply don’t know why boys seem to have a hard time understanding that they have to do things like homework. I never really questioned doing it, even in the midst of wild rebellion against other things. I love learning and homework to me is just part of what you do to learn. They pick up on things so easily they don’t see the importance of the homework.
Sigh. I wish I could be inspirational today, but my day has been interrupted. And that is the context of my day.
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