Wisdom from the Top of the World. From Aspen CO

This is the last of our series on the Journey of life. Which, as I said last week is not really a journey to anywhere, more like a dance with the cosmos.Over the last 4 weeks we have been looking at that dance being one of three steps. 1.Hold your nervea.Speaks to sanity, being able to balance what is going on in your head, and what is going on out there. Hold to what you know is true in the balance of those two things2.Put one foot in front of the othera.Cannot stand still, have to move forward, not knowing or being attached to the outcomeAnd this week we are looking at Responding to circumstances in a loving way.So we are holding our nerve, we are stepping out of the boat and not looking down in fear and we put one foot in front of the other – what could possibly go wrong?No matter how enlightened we are, events come our way it is just about how we respond to them.Listen to hear more.

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This is the third in our series about the journey of life.In the first we looked at starting over and I mentioned those three stages: Holding your nerve, putting one foot in front of the other, and lastly responding to all circumstances in a loving way.Last week we looked at how important it was to start off in a sane and balanced way. There is no pint in holding your nerve if it is going to lead to disaster, you have to be sensitive to everything around you everything inside you and everything outside you – like the balance you need on a surfboard.Today we are going to be talking about putting one foot in front of the other.

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Last week we looked at starting out again. That idea that we have to continually re-commit to the journey and not let ourselves become complacent about it. It is so easy to just ‘go through the motions’, especially in a spiritual life.You just keep turning up in the hope that things will be OK.But that is bound to lead to disillusionment as we gradually realize that we are not developing. More than that – if we are not developing, are going shrinking, because nothing stays the same. The result is that we give up. Coming here to the Aspen Chapel, give up our practice, or even give up thinking that spiritual life is going to make a difference.We have to keep life fresh. And that means savoring each moment for what it can offer.Last week I talked again of those three steps. Holding your nerve, putting one foot in front of the other and responding to circumstances in a loving wayToday we are looking at that first step – holding your nerve. Or as I put it on the service sheet ‘Coming to your Senses’.

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Well for me it is the start of a new semester. Summer is behind us, the kids are back in school, the music festival is over, and we are left looking into the fall, towards the election, thanksgiving and eventually Christmas.And a new beginning always gives pause for thought.Where am I going? What is my life about? How am I doing? Could I do better? Where am I failing? What should I change? How do I manage?And so we look around, and we try to make adjustments.And yet as we take stock as to where we are aiming for and where we have got to, it is easy to forget that we are in fact in the perfect place to take that next step in our lives.A while ago, when I was talking about humility I said that there were three things we should do to ensure that we stay in that place of humility is:1.Hold your nerveSpeaks to sanity, being able to balance what is going on in your head, and what is going on out there. Hold to what you know is true in the balance of those two things2.Put one foot in front of the otherCannot stand still, have to move forward, old Frank Sinatra mystical advice: do, be, do, be, do!3.Respond to circumstances in a loving wayAll about love – Love the L….. How do I respond lovingly, what is the overall most loving thing to do.And that holds for when we start out on something.

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