Wednesday, July 8, 2015

6868. MILLSTONE PASSAGE

MILLSTONE PASSAGE
Once upon a time there was a young person who 
stumbled upon a frog. The frog said to that person : 
'Master, I am at your service; any wish in the world 
you want, I will grant. Just tell me.' With that, the
person looked at the frog, which he was now holding
in his hand, and said, 'I want nothing.' Startled, the frog
said, 'But I offer you riches, travel, power, anything.' 
Replying to the frog, that person said, 'Yes, I know; 
but right now I am more interested in a talking frog.'
-
I suppose you get the picture. That little tale is an attempt
at explaining reality as I see it. Exceptional qualities are
sometimes so much more important than any of the other
things considered 'wonderful' in life : Riches? Power? Travel?
For what? They pass away, they waste one's time, and they
only mean you have to do so much more to maintain them.
One gets vengeful with too much  -  afraid someone will
take it away, cheat you, squander it, trick you. It makes
for a suspicious race of men, to be sure.
-
I only bring this obscure little drama up to make a point :
Let us live best with what we have, and not try to make
it something else. When we can own up to reality and face
it, then we are ideal, 'right' with the world, and probably
happy as well. There are so many other things, created by
us, that cloud the world and take our time. Images, thoughts,
spectres, all arrayed so as to disprove the harmony of life
and  -  basically  -  undermine out own little versions of
Paradise. Faith in ourselves is what counts the most, yet
there is so much to disprove that faith, if we let it.
-
There is a bridge over the Millstone River that is a good 
example of what I mean  -  it's a humble, old, not-flashy
bridge, just doing its 'bridge' work. The onslaught of the
modern world means nothing to it. Once your eye fixes 
upon it, you see that there's a lot to be learned from it.
Just studying its simple, arc'ing, dimly lit composure.
An old idea, this bridge, yet at work in this modern world.
All the newest and most-modern cars just roll over it,
Lincoln, Lexus, and Cadillac, as well as, on car-show
days, the still-born Edsel and a Corvair, utilize it. Try
it some day; walk over it, slowly, and think about it.
-
In microcosm, it's the very same experience as if one were 
to walk the Brooklyn, or George Washington, or Golden Gate
Bridge. Or even the old, time-lapsed, London Bridge. Like the 
talking frog, it is so much more than real, more than ordinary, 
that by itself it must be considered special, and not a lead-in 
to anything more. We recognize it for what it is, and stop right 
there. The Millstone Passage can lead you somewhere new. 
Try it someday, and count your blessings.

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