From Zen and the Art of Walking Lightly

The Art of Walking Lightly

There is a thought that Leonard Cohen coined in one of his songs or one of his pieces of poetry and it goes something like this: there is a crack in everything … that is how the light gets in. 

I know that is not necessarily a direct quote but anyone familiar with his work will know the song … but it started me thinking … and the tangent I went down was:

… If I am a Bearer of Light … one of God’s children … if I am One With All That Is … and everything that happens to me including all my turmoil and grief … my feelings … are Exactly The Way They Are Supposed To Be … and if I can truly Exercise Freedom of Choice … then maybe, just maybe, the choice that I should be making in my own best interests, is to exercise my ability to project God’s gift out into my world … to do this simply as the world presents itself to me … on a daily basis … at my door step …

A second thought comes to mind at about this point … rather than the light seeping through the cracks in everything … what if you and I made a conscious effort to place light around or inject peace and love into every action or thought that we take or make … into every feeling that we have … into every supposed understanding we conjure up … imagine that … being peacefully upset … being peacefully disgusted … being peacefully uncomfortable. 

It strikes me, and it is just conjecture on my behalf at this point, that sooner or later we might just all arrive at the same place … being peacefully peaceful. 

What a thought! Imagine that! Go ahead try it right now. 

Try being peacefully upset. 

If you are anything like me, you may in fact find this very hard to do …

This whole process conjures up the thought that Kahil Gibran (1883-1931) makes in The Prophet … do what you do with another but never take them out of you heart … 

So the final exercise to bring closure to this process is an ongoing effort … to finish this thought and begin a new life … with everything that happens to fall upon your door step inject a little light … some love and some peace … no matter what it is … and when you forget … that’s fine … you are allowed … that is part and parcel of the joy of being human … but when you remember … offer up the Light of God in the form of peace and love into whatever it is that is next or whatever it is that just happened … whatever it is that is before you.

Neil Douglas-Tubb 

(published 2002 available on Amazon.com)