Presby-Musings

Cut doors and windows  to make a room. Where the room isn't,  there's room for you.  - Lao Tzu When I read the above passage from Lao Tzu's short poem "The uses of not," it stood out for me in a way that I couldn't quite describe at the moment, and it left me with the feeling that I was supposed to know  something because of it.  To be honest, the last line was what grabbed me at first:  "Where the room isn't/there's room for you."  There was something true and beautiful about that line that spoke to me deeply.  The author seems to be saying, "In the empty spaces... in the margins... there is room for you there."  But it was the first line of that passage that eventually gave me some clarity as to it all resonated with me so strongly:  "Cut doors and windows to make a room."  That powerful line prompted me to ask myself:  "How often do I wall myself off from the world around me... from people who I enc...

Yesterday evening I attended the sweet wedding of two beautiful and awesome people, who I've come to know and care for very much.  After the ceremony, we all gathered for the reception while we waited for the wedding party to finish with their post-ceremony photos.  Joy permeated the room.  Laughter was on everyone's lips.  Food tasted better.  The drinks were ambrosia.  The lights twinkled like stars.  All of it was imbued with meaning.  No matter what was happening outside of that room, for the moment all we felt was joy and hope at the prospect of new beginnings.  For a few precious hours, we all stepped into eternity and simply reveled in it.  I think most of us long to feel that eternal joy in every moment.  We long to know the kind of peace that comes from a hope that is secured through our trust in God's love and mercy.  But we relegate most of our moments to "ordinary" status and resign ourselves to day...