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Regarding Life and Living It

  • May. 13th, 2008 at 4:17 PM

At a World Fantasy Convention a few years ago, Guest of Honor Jonathan Carroll related a story (which I'm paraphrasing) about driving around with one of his brothers. He comes from a mixed family of people who are like a religious explosion: Agnostics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Jews, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and a Sufi.

So Jonathan was riding around with his brother the Sufi, and complaining about how he's lived his life. "I've been a lousy human being," Jonathan said. "I've been a terrible husband, and father. I've been a terrible son and brother. I'm not a great friend. I've just been awful in how I relate to everyone around me. I understand this. I acknowledge this. I just don't know what to do about it."

His brother stopped the car, grabbed him firmly by the arm, and glared at him. "Look," he said, "you know there's a light. You know where it is. Try and walk in it. That's it."

And, Jonathan says, he realized his brother was right. And he tries to walk in the light.

And so do I.

Comments

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[info]susanwrites wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:25 am (UTC)
Oh James.

Oh.

You know how many times I need this reminder. Thank you.
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:31 am (UTC)
You're welcome, dear Su. I think it's an important enough phrase I have it printed on cards so I can stumble over them here and there.

You know there's a light. You know where it is. Try and walk in it. That's it.

I'm trying my best.
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[info]ravena_kade wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:26 am (UTC)
Good words
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:32 am (UTC)
Absolutely agree.
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[info]iamheavenrender wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:54 am (UTC)
Makes your sunglasses look cooler, too, the Light does.
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:56 am (UTC)
That is a bonus, yes.
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[info]melissajm wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 12:58 am (UTC)
Thank you.
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 01:43 am (UTC)
You're quite welcome.
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[info]kadymae wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 02:26 am (UTC)
I trip and I fall, but yeah, you just gotta keep trying to walk in it.
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 02:45 am (UTC)
I tend to be very hard on myself when I'm NOT in it - but I have to remind myself, I can always find it again, and step in its direction.
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[info]the_flea_king wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 03:34 am (UTC)
I wish I understood this. It sounds simple, but I just don't know what it means.
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[info]coppervale wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 03:44 am (UTC)
My interpretation (which of course may not be Jonathan's at all), is best summed up by quoting one of my favorite books, by writer Elliot S! Maggin:

"There is right in the universe, and there is wrong in the universe - and the difference is not hard to distinguish."

I think many, many of us know the difference between the right choices(in the light), and the wrong choices(not in the light) to make - and when we choose not to walk in the light, it's because we've justified or rationalized something.

Trying to walk in the light means trying to make the choices I know are right; even when it's harder to do so. Even when emotionally I want not to. Even when I can't see the light. Maybe especially then. Because I know it's there. I know where it is. And I try hard to walk in it as best I can.
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[info]scribblerworks wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 03:27 pm (UTC)
If I can't find the light, it's usually because I've turned my back to it. Not that I do that very often, as I happen to like the light. (And with a middle name that means "light" - Lucy - I'd hope to remain so.)

I have a sort of companion thing - off the scripture that says "Knock and the door shall be opened to you." Sometimes I hear people complain about knocking on the door (ie, praying for something) and nothing is happening. And I feel that often, we're knocking on a wall, demanding it be a door, and not bothering to find the actual door (which might be standing open in the meantime).

I suppose we sometimes get into a pattern where we want good to happen to and around us, but don't really want to exert ourselves.


And by the way... you do pretty good in the "walk in the light" department. :-)
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[info]adeluca wrote:
May. 14th, 2008 06:27 pm (UTC)
I fall, flat on my face, every single day. But, like Vince Lombardi said: "It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up."
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[info]jpantalleresco wrote:
May. 16th, 2008 03:21 am (UTC)
I once read in MLK's Biography that "He Tried" is a hell of an epitaph on your tombstone and a great way to live life.

That's all we can do. We all make mistakes, but if we try nothing less than our best, things tend to work out.

JP
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