Today was the first morning in many months that I was able to leave home wearing a short sleeved shirt with no sweater or jacket. The temperature today reached the mid 80's. It was a beautiful day. Unfortunately the entire afternoon was spent being held captive in a corporate meeting. I was buoyed, however, by the fact that today is Friday and I have a weekend with no obligations or commitments. Weekends are the oasis in the desert of life. Now that the cold and darkness of winter seems to finally be behind us, I am energized by the sun and the rebirth of nature. The annual renewal of life in nature also seems to renew me. I feel certain that many other people feel the same way.
In tomorrow's reading from the Tao we are told "Sun shines in the middle of the sky. All things turn their faces towards the light".
In our solar system the sun is the center of our universe. The earth and other planets orbit around it. However, for beings or planets in another galaxy our sun is nothing more than a distant star. Our sun is not the center of their universe. I often talk about "living in the center" or being "pulled away from your center". What is the "center"? It depends on where you are. My center is someone else's distant star. For me, my center is that place within me where I am most in touch with my reality. My center is the ground of my being. It is my essence, my true self, and the person I am behind the masks and self defenses. None of us are who we appear to be. Just like the planets, sometimes we are in the light and sometimes we are in darkness. It all depends on where we are in relation to our sun and our center. Each day when we begin to see the sunrise and to feel its warmth, we turn our faces towards the light. Just like when the light of the sun reveals everything around us, being in our center reveals everything that we are. When we are who we really are, living in the center and revealing our true self, we become light.
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