Robert Creeley has a poem about the Dutch boy who kept his finger in the dike all night to keep the waters of the ocean from overwhelming the town. In the morning, the boy is found and is rewarded with honors for his heroism. But, as Creeley's poem goes, during that long night with his finger holding back the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Dutch boy is filled with terror at his awesome responsibility. We all feel like the Dutch boy at times. We feel that we are so totally responsible for holding it all together. And even when we receive rewards for our achievements, still there is that ever-present sense of personal responsibility for keeping our world in order. Yet there is another way of seeing our role in life. We've all seen the laughing Buddha, Hotei, holding his arms in the air and laughing. When we come to see that the world will continue whether we hold it up or not, we can relax, and, like Hotei, see the humor of our predicament.