I too am wondering how many times in life we are required to, like St. Francis, kick off our shoes and walk off into the world with nothing but faith. Or like Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, leave what we know behind and move into the next chapter, our only tangible possession the knowledge of ourselves and our abilities to think, wait and fast (or go without.) I also wonder at the function of the process and whether it is necessary at all.
I am fascinated by the biblical story of Joseph, the dreamer, whose jealous brothers sold him into slavery, and who also gained and lost so much repeatedly. He had two sons: (Genesis 41) And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. And when Joseph had staved off famine in Egypt, and his brothers in Israel were starving, he told them: "Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours" and provided for them with unconditional love and forgiveness. And God told them not to fear "Here am I. 3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes." And these brother went on to become the twelve nations of Israel. Now I know that you don't put much stock in the stories of the bible, but I find them instructional and symbolic. Here, a diagram of change through faith. When we are willing to give up all the "stuff" and move with faith into change, the stuff comes back, our father's house and our fruitfulness in the land of our affliction. Our affliction, we must release. On Dec 7, 9:19 am, iam deheretic <[email protected]> wrote: > I wrote it for as much me as anything, Molly it seems my life and its > purpose suddenly seem to change, not in a direction that is comfortable but > to one where I am going to have to dance in the rain. I am getting the > feeling of a scared puppy that is having to go out into the rain. > Allan > > > > On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 2:07 PM, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > > I agree, and am puzzled by your need to point this out, my friend. > > > On Dec 7, 3:20 am, iam deheretic <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Molly > > > Life is not about avoiding the storms; > > > > It is learning to dance in the rain > > > > Allan > > > > On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > What other forms are there, Pat? And how is it we share our > > > > particular slice with so much in common? Why slice at all? > > > > > -- > > > > ( > > > ) > > > I_D Allan > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > ""Minds Eye"" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<minds-eye%[email protected]> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en. > > -- > ( > ) > I_D Allan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
