We departed Coloma Michigan late Sunday morning. The same lake house has accommodated us for ten years. Grandchildren who were infants on our first visit now approach their teen years. The oldest is now 18 and the youngest is 6. On Saturday Laura and I, our daughter, her partner, and two of four grand…
v. 69 The expert in warfare says: Rather than dare make the attack I’d take the attack; rather than dare advance an inch I’d retreat a foot. It’s called marching without marching, rolling up your sleeves without flexing your muscles, being armed without weapons, giving the attacker no opponent. Nothing’s worse than attacking what…
Saturday, May 23 of Memorial Day weekend. This weekend is prime time. It is a fold point when spring starts to feel like summer. Or not. The Midwest at this juncture in May, a day can be chilly enough to beg a winter’s coat, or edge close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I tell myself…
Therefore Shen Dao cast aside his learningand all concern for himself,Acting only when it was necessary,and strove to be disinterested and purein his relationship with others. He said that the best knowledge is to have no knowledgeand that a little knowledge could be dangerous. Regarding himself as unqualified,he took on no projects, and laughed…
Confucius looked disconsolate and sighed. …”I was twice driven from Lu; I had to flee from Wei; the tree under which I taught was cut down in Song; I was held in a state of siege between Chen and Cai. I do not know what transgressions I had committed that brought about the hardship…
Book 31 is a brief 5 page vignette of an encounter between Confucius and an anonymous Fisherman. While on a roadway adjacent to a lake Confucius and his traveling companions are taking a break from the road. They are approached by this stranger who steps down from his boat. The man is described in…
Of my assertions,9 out of 10 are metaphorical;7 in 10 are from existing writings. Words flow on every day clarified bythe heavenly elementin our nature. The 9 assertions in 10 which are metaphoricalare borrowed from external sources to expound my arguments. It is said,“A father does not act as the matchmakerfor his own son.”This…
Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “You speak of what is useless!” Zhuangzi replied, “You have to know what is useless beforeyou can speak about what is useful… Zhuangzi said, “if a man has the capacity to wander freely,can he be stopped? If a man lacks the capacity, then whatcan induce him? There are those who…
The 2nd Sunday of March, you lose an hour of rest due to the ‘click forward’ of daylight savings time. I’d wager most despise the imposition, and there’s no mechanism to stop the obsolete ritual. Saving energy and encouraging commerce… A globalized economy heavily encumbered by tariffs is roiled by the President of the…
The four seasons have distinct weather, but as heaven has no partiality the year completes the cycle. The five offices of the government have distinct duties, but as rulers have no partiality the state is governed. Peace and war have distinct characteristics, but as a great man does not oppose one against the other…
