The Right Way

Well, I made it up the hill on my x-country skis today. It's only about a 200 feet change in elevation from our home set at about 2,000 feet. And I haven't waxed my skis recently so they are a bit slippery in the powdery snow. But I made it - three stents and all. The last week or so I have finally gotten a bit of exercise after a quick trip to New England. Racquetball, swimming and now pushing snow on my skis. Feels good, but it seems that I have a pretty tranquil life, eh. I learn from my PC Internet sedentary reading position of dolphin slaughters in Japan (from the documentary "The Cove"), deaths in the nation's immigration jails and green issues on a global scale.  And we won't even mention Iraq or Afghanistan.  Yes, there is plenty to keep one's eye on (and these links are but a mix of links and little at that), but at the same time we can count ourselves lucky if we have a decent job, shelter and some food on the table.  Like most of the rest of us I don't really have a prescription for tackling all of this and I really don't have a crystal ball that can foretell what is around the bend.  But I suppose we can chip away at things. You know, sort of like Copenhagen. We can all smile and nod our heads because meetings whether in your own home, at work or on the world stage meetings often times end up with less than what we had hoped for, but if fate is good to us with more than before...

Once on the hill, the dogs and I paused for a few moments to capture the valley scene below. It is a beautiful day with blue sky and white snow. The hard part is doing the herringbone up the hill.  The easy part, albeit more dangerous, is racing downhill. I suppose that is the way I look at society right now.  We are racing downhill without any real and overt means by which we can stop. What we can do though is to use our senses to tell us that there is an end to the downhill slope. In my mind that only works though for those who are true to heart and value. Hmm, you wonder what I mean by that. Aye, it is a naive view of the world that guards a rigid sense of right and wrong. Clarity in action in relying on your instincts and a faith that GTC has made us all with a place in this glorious wide world. Easier said than done for sure, but it takes practice...

I look back up the hill at the trail that I have left behind. Two muffled tracks of soft, powdery snow settle in for a short winter time. It is always fun to do "downhill" in a powder. Yes, I did tip over once halfway down. Kelpie and Griffon stopped by to make sure that I was okay. The final slope though was still fun. That's it I think in terms of reaching that final slope. Just how do we un-corrupt a very, complicated and diverse world in order to reach that right way of living to sustain ourselves and each other. And I wonder how many of us include the each other part of the equation. Because we must...

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. 2 Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. 3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. 5 He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. 6 Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. 7 The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. 8 Yes, LORD,

walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. 9 My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.