Good Morning,

Time is strange. We live within it, depend on it, take it for
granted, yet it relentlessly passes, and our lives slip through our
fingers moment by moment. Where does time come from, and where does
it go? How is it that every moment we are different, we grow, we
develop, we are born, we die? What are we supposed to be doing with
this life? After many years of grappling with these questions, I have
developed a feeling for their answers. We don't really know what
appears, what time is, where it goes. We are here to try to
understand, and we all have our own way of understanding, and of
expressing that understanding through the living of our lives.

Each of us has a place in this world. Taking that place, is our real
purpose as human beings. We are not generic people, we are
individuals, and when we appreciate that fact completely and allow
ourselves to embrace it and grow into it fully, we see that taking
our unique place in this world is the one thing that gives us a sense
of ultimate fulfillment. Bantu tribesmen, it is said, sneak into the
rooms of their children as they sleep and whisper in their ears,
"Become what you are."

To take our place is to mature, to grow into what we are. Few of us
are truly mature individuals; few of us really occupy our places. We
are merely living out a dream of maturity, a set of received notions
that pass for adulthood. What does it really mean to grow up? How do
we do the work that will nurture a truly mature heart from which can
flow healing words and deeds? Each of our lives depends on our
undertaking the exploration that these questions urge us toward. And
the mystery is that the whole world depends on each of us to take
this human journey.

It is humbling to realize what an immense job it is to truly accept
the task of being human. There is so much room for growth and
improvement, and the journey is endless. When you consider the lives
of exemplary human beings—those who, like Jesus or Buddha, gave
themselves totally to their paths— you begin to get a feeling for the
depth and breadth that is not only possible but called for in each of
us. It's a challenge, maybe even an impossible challenge, but one
that all of us have to undertake, for our humanness demands it of us
and won't let us settle for less.

Really growing up, becoming truly yourself—this takes openness and
receptivity, inspiration and understanding, stability and
persistence, trust in the world and in yourself. It takes a peaceful
mind, but also an active, decisive, and courageous mind. It takes
knowing how to live, knowing how to choose, and knowing how to share
those choices with others.

Through mindful action, our lives unfold.

Peace and Love, Jim