"Nature doesn't hurry yet everything is accomplished."
Was trying to remember Lao-Tzu (and my tea bag label's ) sage advice last Saturday while waiting for a very leisurely print-store staff to print the tiny wisdom scrolls I was waiting for :) At some point I recognized the ridiculousness of letting any amount of impatience seep in (any time really but particularly) while one is in the process of creating little billboards of inspiration.
So I leaned over and asked the young woman taking my order, "What's your favorite animal?" She looked up surprised, then, "The koala bear," she said. The animal on the top card of the wisdom scroll set was a koala bear.
Did she just say the first thing that came into her head or was that really her favorite animal? (O mind of little faith!) 'Have you had a chance to see one in person?' 'Yes -- when I was a child I got to visit my godmother in Australia and we saw koalas. I only ever got to meet her twice -- she really loved me. My godmother got leukemia a few years after and passed away. I think of her when I see koalas.' And just like that, it's gone, any lingering scrap of haste I had.
A sweet conversation opened up. About godparents, koalas, Brother David, and gratefulness...When I left the store of course she had a little koala wisdom scroll tucked into a ledge on the cash register where she could see it while she worked. And I had that little memory tucked into a ledge of my heart -- one among the countless that feed me -- for whenever I forget to remember what the real work is :)
Was trying to remember Lao-Tzu (and my tea bag label's ) sage advice last Saturday while waiting for a very leisurely print-store staff to print the tiny wisdom scrolls I was waiting for :) At some point I recognized the ridiculousness of letting any amount of impatience seep in (any time really but particularly) while one is in the process of creating little billboards of inspiration.
So I leaned over and asked the young woman taking my order, "What's your favorite animal?" She looked up surprised, then, "The koala bear," she said. The animal on the top card of the wisdom scroll set was a koala bear.
Did she just say the first thing that came into her head or was that really her favorite animal? (O mind of little faith!) 'Have you had a chance to see one in person?' 'Yes -- when I was a child I got to visit my godmother in Australia and we saw koalas. I only ever got to meet her twice -- she really loved me. My godmother got leukemia a few years after and passed away. I think of her when I see koalas.' And just like that, it's gone, any lingering scrap of haste I had.
A sweet conversation opened up. About godparents, koalas, Brother David, and gratefulness...When I left the store of course she had a little koala wisdom scroll tucked into a ledge on the cash register where she could see it while she worked. And I had that little memory tucked into a ledge of my heart -- one among the countless that feed me -- for whenever I forget to remember what the real work is :)
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