Today is midweek. The last two hours were dedicated to conversations between two friends. Three of us sat conveniently close for easy understanding. Music is always in the background at Starbucks. We told of recent experiences.

I related the story of the license plate on the front bumper of my Kia. I purchased the plate years ago at a solitary country gas/mini-mart in Bahama, North Carolina. An old stone Methodist Church is across the intersection from the store. There’s little more than than that Mini-mart in the town. It is farm country, with a lot of woods. The plate just says “Bahama, N.C.” Such non-standard front license plates are illegal in Illinois. However I feel some pride to have grown up in North Carolina.

Tom shared that he has a dentist appointment this morning. He promised to send me a image of Jesus bungee-jumping from a garage roof. Such images amuse me. Jesus was a bungee-jumper. Jesus still is.

Paul told us about his business event in northern Minnesota. Sounded like one of those “all hands on deck” to give an account of yourself, – variety of gatherings. As usual there was golf, much food, and alcohol. Some things seem not to change even when everything is in the flow of events.

The remaining segment of today’s Starbucks session was dedicated to reading an overview of Taoist metaphysics, that is, the ancient Chinese intuition that everything relates in a dynamically to everything else. Not that you or I are without a distinct identity, – but that “self” is provisional, a temporary interlude, a composite of every past relationship, and all present relationships to individuals, and to things (rivers, neighborhoods, books, a laptop, etc., etc.) This notion rises to challenge what I had assumed for a very long time. I believed thinking was priority, that ideas are durable, that spirit is more valuable than matter, stigmatized as a “lower” side of life… No so with Lao Tsu. There’s no line dividing thought and material, and it is all in flux.

Then what if every single thing in my field of focus is given respect, due care? Would the world become transformed?

“Yes it would” writes Lao Tsu.

I think the time has come for music. I like this tune by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lodi. Isn’t it time for a road trip?