In the Now with the Tao, Day Five, Verse Five

There are things in our daily life that ring so true and so loudly in our spirits that we can not deny them. This 5th verse of the Tao resounds in my spirit in just such a way.

Tao, Vs. 5: "Heaven and earth are impartial; they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs. The sage is not sentimental; he treats all his people as staw dogs. The sage is like heaven and earth; To him none are especially dear, nor is there anyone he disfavors. He gives and gives, without condition, offering his treasures to everyone. Between heaven and earth is a space like a bellows; empty and inexhaustible, the more it is used, the more it produces. Hold on to the center. Man was made to sit quietly and find the truth within." (In Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching, he explains that "straw dogs were ritual objects, venerated before the ceremony but afterward abandoned and trampled underfoot.")

We must see ourselves in others. Love them as we do ourselves without conditions or judgements. Not esteeming one above another. No partialities, no matter what. I believe that so strongly that whether or not you agree with me...I love you and respect your right to be different.

Allow me to share something about myself, something I'm not very proud of. I lived a huge part of my life standing on my soapbox declaring how "right" I was. There is one enormous problem with that. In my declaration of my preceived "rightness," I very loudly proclaimed someone else as "wrong." I don't believe that anyone has the authority to do that for or to another person.

I want to practice this 5th verse this way; I want to stop judging others. They may look, act, and view the world totally different than I. I will squint if I have to but I will look until I see "God" in us both. No criticisms. No labels. Only love. God is Love.

"Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." (Acts 10:34,35 NIV Bible)