Glimpses of hope
 Given: we are all deeply immersed in
ourselves and in the world.And the immersion does lead to certain rewards, certain pleasures. Who is to gainsay us the pleasure of rest after a hard day’s work, the ineffable beauty of a recording of Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg Variations, the thrill of a perfect lay-up on a par 5 hole, the heart filled with joy as a child graduates from college? Think for a moment about the path, the way to those moments. It seems, more often than not, to be either a hectic freeway filled with rambunctious drivers and lined with raucous brightly colored signs, or a barely cleared jungle path full of brambles and surrounded by dark glades where who knows what terrifying beasts lurk. Here we are, with little time and less energy for paying attention to anything but the next step, and the next. Often, we round a corner and encounter marvels, wonders, experiences which, as we put it, "make life worth living." But also often, we round a corner and fall into misery, deceit, despair, experiences which make us doubt our own value and that of the world. Is it possible, in our headlong rush toward a goal which is at best only vaguely defined, to ease the way? Is there something we can do, internally, silently, at any moment, at any place, on such a helter-skelter, baffling path? Extraordinary minds who came long before us have left clues and, at times, even rather specific instructions which seem to indicate the burdens can be eased, the path made, if not straighter then at least more comprehensible, a little more bearable. Back to Saltlick Contents |