Words from Pep

I went for a walk with the devil today…

By James “Pep” Washburn

I went for a walk with the devil today. . . . . It’s not the first time. We meet often on the trail. . . . . . .Our conversation concerned the nature of the human mind. . . . . . No kidding. . . . . . We agreed the phenomena humans call mind is like a jar of muddy water swirling with illusions. Keep the jar agitated and illusions obscure the view. A settled mind, however, my company noted pausing to light a cigarette, is another story. “A mind that’s settled can become dis-illusioned.” . . . . . Waving away a swarm of flies it continued, “As long as the mind is not at rest, kept distracted, filled with diversions, the illusions of existence obscure reality, but, when the mind is allowed stillness it has a better chance to see clearly and lies are sorted out.” . . . . . Our attention was drawn to a strikingly gorgeous reptile in a nearby cluster of leaves. We detoured and headed down hill toward an orchard. . . . . . After several minutes of silence a muted sigh emerged and it exhaled a single smoke ring. With this it made a confession. “I’m actually considering a change in careers. Bored. There’s no challenge anymore. Most humans are flying autopilot, surfing the Web, on Facebook, at the job making an extra buck to pay off their consumer addictions. Every culture on the planet is trading away its traditions for capitalist pursuits. The ability to muse is pretty much lost as a-musement uses up any remaining time. I really don’t have much to do. Distraction is a way of life for your species.” . . . . . Turning introspective, I had to agree. . . . . . We sat in the shade of this ancient grove surrounded by fruit that had fallen in the grass. . . . . . “Would you like a bite?! Irony intended by the way. Consider this. Through your jars of perpetual distraction, you cannot see the reflections of harmony, interdependence and balance that the creation speaks to you and so you have little of these in your economic systems. Your egos drive you to believe, falsely, that you’re under constant threat because you cannot see the faithfulness of He who husbands the universe. So, you competitively push others aside to grasp at illusions thought to bring you security. Your constant distractions evaporate opportunities to get to know your Greatest Friend. So many are so busy for so long that the idea of a mind without distraction is feared. You, therefore, don’t have a clue about the glorious and pleasant kingdom that resides within. This kingdom could spill out into your world if you took time to let it renew and clarify your mind.” . . . . . At this point we sat there in silence as a breeze came up and nudged more fruit from their branches to within reach on the ground. I stretched, picked up the best looking one and as I did my advisor squeezed my arm saying, “Don’t tell the boss we had this conversation. He prefers you discover these things yourself. . . . Here, try this one instead.”

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ONE WORLD  -  ONE FAMILY OF MAN  -  ONE CREATOR OF ALL

Pep Washburn

www.theteacherwithin.com