How "the world" thinks

 I read Chapter 11 in Tao Te Ching this week and it was the focus on my meditations. I condensed it here:

               Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub;

                  It is the center hole that makes it useful.

              Shape the clay into a vessel;

                  It is the space within that makes it useful.

 

               Therefore profit comes from what is there;

                    Usefulness from what is not there. 

 

 The world so often focuses on "profit".  What is tangible is easy to measure.  You can create metrics/ worth and value.  What is less tangible is harder to measure so is often ignored or relegated to lip service. Yet culture and integrity are very "useful" to an organization though almost impossible to measure.  There are a couple of great companies and leaders that understand this but they are few and far between.

If you can make more money that is what you should do regardless of how you do it.  That is how the world thinks.  But God doesn't think like the world.  He lives in the hole and the space.  He wants us to bring His kingdom a little closer to the world today by helping others.  That is how we are useful.  

 

 

Pax

 

Joe     

My dog has cancer

 This will be a different post today because it is more of a self help for me.  My 15 year old dog was diagnosed with an inoperable mast cell tumor on his paw Friday.  I saw it coming and appreciate the vet's honesty but it was still a shock when it arrived.  3-6 months and will necessitate at least daily dressing changes of his paw and a boot when he goes out. We have talked about suffering on this blog before, but my dog??  So here is how I am working through this...

All creation was created to praise God.  Hence that is why Turner was created. He has done a good job at this.

Mankind was charged with being good stewards of God's creation.  I think we have done pretty well with Turner; he got to 15.  Of course he has gotten old enough to develop cancer.  

God is good and wants the best for His creatures and for me.  When man turns to evil he can create pain and suffering that God allows but God ultimately causes good from it.  I don't see how this is good.  I don't think this cancer has anything to do with man's evil.  Thus this must be part of God's natural plan. Turner is wearing out after 15 years.

The fact that I don't understand God's plan is what bugs me.  I want to know!  This is where pride comes in.  

So if this is suppose to be good; where is the good?  

  

 This is where faith comes in.  I have to trust God and look for the good.  How can I take this time and this experience and find good?  Is it treasuring the dressing changes with my wife and dog?  More ardent prayer?  Appreciate life more?  There is good here; I just need to find it while acknowledging the sadness as well.   This I am attempting to do.

Pax

Joe   

 

Old Friends

 The invitation came in the mail.  A friend's daughter was getting married in the Catskills.  My wife hadn't seen her friend in 18 years.  I hadn't seen her in 28.  I told my wife she should be flattered she was invited after all this time.  "We're retired; let's go!" So we did.

She looked about 20 years older but sounded the same.  My wife and she started talking as if we were living next door again and had just seen her 2 days ago.  I felt it too.  Amazing.

 Why would it be that way after 20 years?  What makes certain people "impossible to forget".  

I  do think good friends are hard to find.  Someone that you are honest with [ and is honest with you] and have shared experiences with and that builds a bond that doesn't get broken through the decades.  That love makes your friend impossible to forget and allows you to literally pick right back up where you left off. 

So lets be grateful for the friends we have and always be willing to cultivate new ones.  And if you are able, don't wait to see your old friends; twenty years is a long time!

Pax

Joe