How people, depressed in a crushing solitude, have lost
their way in the dog-eat-dog world that is modern life.
Conversation is one thing but continuity that comes from
listening, from paying attention, what Zen followers call the sincerest form of
gratitude, that will set us on a path to good health.
“Without:” that is the active ingredient that defines the
inactive life “without” energy.
Without love, without meaning, what is a life?
Sorrow yields a living death. Isn’t that why we pepper our
fiction with zombies – the sci-fi manifestation of the oblivion of without?
Smile and then what? Recover? Why?
Because when you believe in yourself, in the work you do,
that you continue to do, you show the natural joy and boundless energy of, yes,
the dog.
It is too bad that Kierkegaard did not write about the moral
lessons of a dog, a dog’s nature, her behavior.
Oh, wait a minute, maybe he did. (This line courtesy of “Kirk”
– my pal Kirk Nicewonger, that is):
“When one has once fully the realm of love, the world – no
matter how imperfect – becomes rich and beautiful, it consists solely of opportunities
for love.”
Next: Running for
Your Life: Yes, David Jones!
