ASSUAGE

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

         When I am faced with what seems to be a problem, it’s always a relief to realize that the distress caused by the problem – any problem – can easily be assuaged. The word ‘assuage’ comes from the old Latin word meaning ‘sweet’, so the word originally meant ‘to make sweet’ – and how good it is to get the news that any ostensibly sour situation can easily be sweetened. And how is this done? Well, simply by settling into peaceful stillness and remembering, once again, that all problems come from thoughts about situations, not from the situations themselves. Every situation is like a healthy piece of bread. I can either make it horrendous by spreading a red-hot sauce on it, or I can experience the inherent strength and sweetness in it by simply biting into it. It’s my choice – always. There’s health, somewhere and somehow, in every situation, even the truly awful ones, and any distress I might feel in facing a situation can be assuaged by looking carefully for the freshness and newness and strength and sweet wisdom somewhere inside it. At the very center of every moment, even unpleasant and smelly ones, there’s a secret sweetness that can easily assuage any sourness. I hope to be a better searcher for this sweet magic. 

HANGING ON

When sadness visited her,
he said to just hang on,
but she didn't understand
what to hang on to,
so she tried hanging on
to a favorite thought,
but soon the thought broke
and the breaking
almost broke her as well.
Then she tried
hanging on to happiness,
but it was wispy
and couldn't be grasped,
and always slipped away.
So then she decided
that hanging on
didn't help her,
so she stopped hanging on
and simply floated free
and found that relief and love 
were everywhere,
as long as
she didn't hang on.