Monday, December 23

8:07 a.m. I read this morning, in the Bible, that “the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”, and it’s so obvious that the words speak directly to me. For sure, I have “walked in darkness” for most of life, in that I have lived most of my days with no clear sense of what this life is really all about. It’s truly been a vast mystery to me. I’ve enjoyed 78 privileged, fairly trouble-free years, but they’ve all been permeated and surrounded by a basic kind of befuddlement – the “darkness” that the Bible speaks of. I always pretended to know a lot, but inside, I knew that I knew almost nothing about the meaning of life. Only when I was about 35 years old did that darkness start to sometimes thin out and even occasionally disappear, and it happened because of a simple idea – a small but bright inner light that sometimes visited me. What the light said was, “The only reality is the present moment, right here and now, and it can’t be measured and therefore is infinite, and therefore can’t be damaged or destroyed or brought to an end, and therefore it – the present moment, here and now – should always be welcomed and even honored.” That simple but “great light” has been lit up for me, off and on, for the last 43 years – and this morning the Bible reminds me to be on the lookout for it today. It’s always shining, bright and clear, right here and now, and I just have to open my inner eyes and see it. Let’s see if I can do it today.

Below, our chalkboard poem for today /…

7:15 p.m. We had coffee and tasty pastries this morning with some dear young friends at a cafe in downtown Mystic, and it was an inspiring hour for me. These are sharp and spirited people who send out wonderful wisdom and openness. I loved listening to them, to their youthful insights and understandings. I felt lucky to learn from such full-of-life kids in their 40’s. .