There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
-- James Taylor, Sweet Baby James
"Perfect timing," I said to the barista at the drive-through window of Port City Java. What I meant to imply with that short perfectly worded statement was that mine was the only car waiting for a cup of the hot and steaming.
"If you were here a few minutes ago, the line was backed up to the street," she said and I began to think that this might be my day after all. No waiting for coffee and that wonderful story that Mumps told me this morning had warmed the cockles of my heart--is it cockles? I was thinking, my oh my, what a wonderful day!
That was my first mistake. Not fierce qigong thinking at all. You see, it's that kind of magical thinking that sets us up for the big bang that the Universe always has in store for us. We lower our guard. We become complacent. We think we're on top of the world with a rainbow round our shoulders and then when we're not looking, the Universe jumps out from the alleyway, rips off the ginger whiskers, and in the blink of an eye all flesh is as grass, as the man said.
I assume it was a man who said it since it comes from that part of the bible we borrowed from the Hebrews.
But let's not get into Isaiah 40:6 right now. It's not germane to our story and not nearly as exciting either. At least I think so and I hope you do too. So let's get back to it.
The coffee from this premier coffee brewer would have been worth the wait in a long line of cars, of course. Jah's Mercy I call it. And, as I noted, I didn't have to wait. Or did I?
It just occurred to me that if I'd arrived earlier and waited in line to order, I'd still have gotten my coffee at a time before I actually got it. You get the idea. If I'd waited in line, I would have had my cup of steaming around Isaiah 40:7 but instead, I arrived after all the other customers were gone and my coffee was ready at Isaiah 40:10.
It's conundrums like this that make me question if we can ever really know anything for sure. We run around thinking that we know so very much and we're absolutely sure of what we know, aren't we? But studies have shown that what we think we know is really an illusion, and very often a delusion.
It's an alternate dimension that we live in for most of our waking hours. Understandable of course. You see, we've been taught by well-meaning parents, school teachers, our peers, social media, et. al., that what everyone else accepts as real, is in fact reality, and so we should accept it too. However, what someone else thinks is that particular someone's reality (maybe) but it certainly isn't yours or mine.
Reality can often be an uncompromising and sometimes harsh truth. Reality isn't for the faint of heart, which may be why human beings developed the idea of an eternal reward waiting for us after we escape this uncompromising, harsh reality.
[There's] a song that they sing of their home in the sky
--J. Taylor
Still, it felt nice to know that I'd missed the long lines. And it actually was my day because it contained more good than bad--at that very moment. Just to be in this very moment is cause for joy when you examine it closely.
What else are we sure of other than our life on this planet. It's life uncompromising or it's nothing. And no matter what your age, you're fortunate to be here today. I've known the very young to go to sleep with the stars.
Does this thought make you uncomfortable? It should. But it should make you only uncomfortable enough to examine the mystery and majesty of being alive in this marvelous world.
[There's] A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me.
-- J.T.
And I'm happy with my lot--my share of the uncompromising--because I'm happy to be here and I've got Jah's mercy steaming in a paper cup. I'd like to have a little more sunshine and warmer temps--it is December after all. But I've got the words of Merle Haggard to shed a little light and keep me a little warmer...
I got plans of bein' in a warmer town come summertime...
If we make it through December, we'll be fine.
--Merle Haggard, Make it Through December