More blessings today. I can hardly take them all in. It almost physically hurts.

I read the entire Tao Te Ching on a train today. So many passages spoke to me I couldn’t keep track. Here’s the one that stands out (from verse 15):

Do you have the patience to wait

till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving

till the right action arises by itself?



This morning I was at the laundromat at 7 a.m. I met a woman there. Her name was Ching. I pulled the Tao Te Ching out of my bag and asked her if she knew it. She didn’t, but was excited to see her name on the cover. I read her verse 9 and she nodded in agreement. Here it is:

Fill your bowl to the brim

and it will spill.

Keep sharpening your knife

and it will blunt.

Chase after money and security

and your heart will never unclench.

Care about people’s approval

and you will be their prisoner.



Do your work, then step back.

The only path to serenity.



Amen.