37th Verse

The Tao does nothing,
but leaves nothing undone.

If powerful men could center themselves in it,
the whole world would be transformed by itself,
in its natural rhythms.

When life is simple,
pretenses fall away;
our essential natures shine through.

By not wanting, there is calm,
and the world will straighten itself.
When there is silence,
one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself.

This is from the Tao te Ching. I am meandering through this book slowly, picking it up at random times, often going for quite awhile between verses. Yet each time I pick it up it seems to speak to me just where I am. The thing that fascinates me about this book is that it was written in China well before Jesus was born. Yet it says so much of what he said. I can’t help but wonder if he read it, but I also wonder how connected the world was back then and if a copy of this book would have even been available. And then I wonder if it’s just that both of them were one with God and through that revealed divine truths. In any case, I don’t need to figure out any of that. I’m done trying to have all the answers. This second part of my life is about being led by God, not by man. Loving this book, and loving the freedom of taking in wisdom from all sorts of places.