This January, 2025, has been a tumultuous month of weather, political shifts, (including immigration upheavals, legal battles, a cease-fire in the middle east) and disastrous fires here in California. Today as I write, I am waiting for the rain. The gray clouds moving in hold a double possibility: relief from fire, relief for the parched trees, vegetation, and wildlife, but also a threat of flooding, mudslides and possible landslides from the charred mountain sides. Now and then the sun still peeks out from the dark clouds, creating a golden glow that is much more welcomed than the orange glow of fire. We have to wait to see what nature offers over the next few days.
The pending rain reminds me of Alan Watts' rendition of the 'Story of the Chinese Farmer' who was prosperous enough to own a horse in a time when few could. One night, the horse ran off and all the neighbors came around to commiserate with the farmer, wring their hands at how unfortunate he was. The farmer said, "Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. Who can tell?" The next day, the horse returned, bringing seven wild horses with it. That evening everyone visited again, saying, “You are really lucky. What a wonderful change of events! Now you have eight horses!” The farmer responded, “Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. Who can tell?” The next day while his son was breaking in one of the wild horses, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors said, “Oh, that’s too bad. How terrible--your only son cannot help you now with the farm.” The farmer answered:,“Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. Who can tell?” The following day the military officers came around to conscript men into the army, and they rejected the son because of the broken leg. Once again, all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that wonderful!” Again, the farmer said, “Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. Who can tell?”
While we have accumulated amazing knowledge of life and it's processes--including some ways to mitigate nature's harshness (and human harshness and mistakes), we are far from control of the natural world. In fact, our demand to control the natural world without understanding that we too are components of that world, means we can never be certain of the meaning of events. Life is complex; events are interwoven. We have our part in life's ongoing unfoldment, even as Life remains a mystery. We can choose to name Life as an unfolding Good, in which we participate and contribute. To me, our part is to feed the Light, not rehearse the darkness. How do you do that? Robert Schuller put it simply, "Find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it." (Susan Nettleton)
for poetry: https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/.../StarTeachers/index.html https://grateful.org/resource/wind-one-brilliant-day/ https://allpoetry.com/After-The-Storm