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.