REAL LIGHT

The oak leaves have reached the size at which the Great Mother is once again cutting off my satellite television privileges, just in time for Golden week. And it's not because I've been bad (not that I haven't been, mind you; a few wisely selected vices afford moral perspective), but because I've been good (yes, there have been times).

When I relate this seasonal phenomenon to city folks who watch too much tv they say why don’t you just cut the oaks down - as if I’d rather have tv than oak trees! When values reach that point they're not values anymore, just passive reaction - like reaching for the potato chips.

I take this green oaken statement instead as a recurring and necessary reminder of a deeper truth than we can carry in ourselves, that what is every day created out there beyond us is more important than what a certain few of us can spin into extended distractions, some of which are now even called 'reality' tv!

Thus each Spring as the wintry glaze of accreted entertainment is lifted I soon realize (returning clarity of mind) that in fact it is a reward to be cut off from that spiritually toxic stuff; in lieu of most of it I’d rather watch oak leaves grow, which I’m doing right now. Beautiful new green, and alive, the way the real light shines through…