From the Editor's Computer
Take
sips of this pure wine being poured.
Don’t mind that you’ve been given a dirty cup. – Rumi
I’m sure you’ve heard a version of the story
of the college professor who invited some former students to his home. He placed a tray of various mugs in front of
the students. After everyone had chosen
their mug, and the coffee was poured, the professor explained to the students
that they were struggling for the wrong thing.
He likened the mugs to the externals in
their lives: jobs, homes, cars, electronics, what we feel we need to impress
other people. Then he pointed out
that they didn’t really want the mug, they wanted the coffee,
which can be thought of as the important things in life: relationships,
experiences, and the precious moments and memories.
We get so hung up on the externals, that we
almost miss the internals. We think we
need the fanciest or most expensive mug.
Or at least a fancier, more expensive mug than our friends and
neighbours.
Or we worry and fret if there is a blemish,
a crack or chip out of our mugs.
As the above quote by Rumi says...don’t mind
if your mug (life) isn’t perfect. Life
isn’t really about the externals anyway.
Most of the time, we merely use them to
complicate our lives so we don’t have to acknowledge that our mugs are almost
empty because we’ve neglected to fill them.
Then we feel guilty, and instead of taking
time to fill our mugs, we put more and more effort into find the perfect mug.
Or, we let others pick our mugs and interfere
with its contents and then we wonder why we’re not happy.
As it is the contents, and not the vessel
that truly is important to us, why do we put so much energy into the
vessel?
Instead of asking if you see the glass as
half empty or half full, perhaps we should start asking each other “What is
in your glass?”
Hopefully that will remind us of what is
really important.
Beth
To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.
