It occurs to me…

Today I am struck by the seeming contradiction of wisdom.  Compare Darrell Royal’s “Dance with them who brung you” (that is, stick with what works) to Anthony DeMello’s “The donkey that brings you to the door is not the means by which you enter the house” (that is, what got you here won’t necessarily get you there).*  But there is always a way to reconcile if one looks hard enough.  Perhaps you dance at the door with the donkey who brung you, then leave it behind, walk in, and dance with whoever is inside.  There’s a life lesson buried in there somewhere, but it will be difficult to fit on a bumper sticker.

*To my knowledge, though contemporaries, DeMello and Royal never met

Photo accidentally taken. Text derived from a Howard Thurman quote: “Often, the degree to which we oppose a thing marks the degree to which we do not understand it. Sometimes we use our opposition to an idea to cover up our own ignorance. We express our dislike for things, sometimes for people, when we do not understand the things we pretend to dislike; when we do not know the people for whom we have the antagonism.”

“Often, the degree to which we oppose a thing marks the degree to which we do not understand it.  Sometimes we use our opposition to an idea to cover up our own ignorance.  We express our dislike for things, sometimes people, when we do not understand the things we pretend to dislike; when we do not know the people for who we have antagonism.”  Howard Thurman

Not a new thought, but a revival of a basic truth.  There can be, is, of course, honest, learned opposition.  But I think much opposition, perhaps most, is “lazy opposition.”  That is, I oppose someone, something, because I don’t understand them/it.  Often, the fact that I have not made any effort to do so conveniently slips my mind.

Photo taken in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa last year. Ad recently run across.

From Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart:

“We must not shrink from the knowledge of the evilness of evil.  Over and over we must know that the real target of evil is not destruction of the body, the reduction to rubble of cities; the evil in the world around us must not be allowed to move from without to within….  To drink in the beauty that is within reach, to clothe one’s life with simple deeds of kindness to keep alive a sensitiveness to the movement of the spirit of God in the quietness of the human heart and in the workings of the human mind – this is always the ultimate answer to the great deception.”

I love this from Howard Thurman – we take on the “evilness of evil” not with our grand gestures or efforts, but by being aware of the beauty around us, by being kind, and by realizing that the spirit of God is at work in our hearts and minds.  This in turn sends me to this quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained”

“As a matter of fact, it is true that most of the fundamental decisions we make are made on the basis of insufficient evidence.  We cannot wait for final proof or verification.  It would be too late.  Thus we wait as long as we can and then act on the basis of the total knowledge up to the present, with the hope that the future may verify our decision.  This means that the decision does not have integrity in itself.  Its integrity rests upon how it works out, how it unfolds”  Howard Thurman

Thurman was a preacher, and was talking in the spiritual context, but it occurs to me that this concept is universal, and certainly applies broadly in life.  What also occurs to me is that this supports the thought that we need to go easier on ourselves, on others. 

In all this I am reminded of the lines from a Jerry Jeff Walker song – “We’re all living life day to day.  The whole damn world’s just feelin’ its way.  You can’ tell ‘em Jerry Jeff said it’s okay.  All I know is you gotta keep tryin.  You gotta laugh now and then to keep from cryin’.  The only sure things are taxes and dyin’.  It’s the lovin’ makes the livin’ worthwhile.”

A Golfing Observation

I read an article recently on Cameron Triangle, a PGA golfer, generated by his recent third place finish in the Valspar Championship.  His 13 under 271 in that tournament netted him a check for $407,100.  But there was more. 

It seems that Triangle holds the record for most PGA earnings without ever winning a PGA tournament.  Since turning pro in 2009, in 298 starts, while he has no wins to his credit he has one second place finish, two ties for second, has been in the top three finishers six times, and has twenty-six top ten tournament finishes.  He has a low PGA tour round of 62.  He is currently 89^th in the world golf rankings, and 149^th on the all-time money list, having earned $13,743,938 as a PGA golfer.

So there it is, Cameron Triangle has never won a PGA golf tournament, nor have I.  In that respect, and I am fairly confident saying in only that respect, he and I have something in common when it comes to our golf games.  But what came to the forefront of my mind in mulling over this is how fickle, how elusive, how slippery, how deceptive that world “success” is.

Photo taken recently, Galveston Harbor

Photo of “silverman,” a full time resident of our place in Galveston.