Scripture: Tao Te Ching:22
If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.

The Master, by residing in the Tao,
sets an example for all beings.
Because he doesn’t display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn’t know who he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.

When the ancient Masters said,
“If you want to be given everything, give everything up,”
they weren’t using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.

Thought for the Day: “Tao” means “Way,” and the Tao Te Ching was written somewhere between 400-600 years before the birth of Jesus. The entire text is about the unnamable process of the universe—an idea reflected in the ancient Judaism practiced by Jesus as well, where the name of G-d is never spoken or written, because G-d is simply unfathomable by the human mind and impossible to describe with human language.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that the early followers of Jesus were not called Christians, but rather, “people of The Way.” Jesus taught a spiritual path—a way to God, to enlightenment. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus preaches exactly the same truth found in the Tao Te Ching and other ancient holy texts, because frankly, spiritual truth is spiritual truth, and God is constantly revealing the truth to us, in many ways and in many languages. Yet, the message is always clear: to become one with God, to create a more just and loving society, we must be willing to give everything up—our ego, our fear, all our human foibles and our need to control. We must confess we are crooked (and with the latest HSBC and AIG scandals that should be painfully obvious) and allow God to straighten us out.

Prayer: Lord our God, help me to become partial and empty, so that I can be filled with the Spirit of Truth, rather than continue to be full of myself. Amen.