On Redeeming Time
He took his morning seat
to hear the Sage's sonnet,
"On Punishment":
"The people are not afraid of death;
Why threaten them with death?
Supposing that the people are afraid of death,
and we can seize and kill the unruly,
Who would dare to do so?
Often it happens that the executioner is killed.
and to take the place of the executioner
Is like handling the hatchet for the master carpenter.
He who handles the hatchet for the master carpenter
Seldom escapes injury to his hands."
("The Wisdom of Laotse", Lin Yutang (ed.), 1948, Modern Library, p. 300)
He drifted off and on and in and out
as gathering dusk redreamed:
Enlightening people are not afraid of losing time;
Why threaten them with loss?
Supposing they learn fear of untimely death,
And would seize and kill unruly incarnations,
Who would be wise enough to do so?
Often it happens that prophets are killed
to take the place of omniscient justice.
Redemption of another's investment
is like handling the wu-wei hatchet for the master carpenter,
He who handles the master carpenter's tipping points
adjusting health discernment and balancing design
Seldom escapes injury to crucified hands.
Jesus was a master carpenter?
Teaching wu-wei design
and fishermanic skills
in a school of fishy men.
His health-optimizing teaching was redemptively mentored,
as is ours,
graduating from dominating executioners of time's incarnate investments,
to commence mutual-mentoring global cooperative design.
We retake each mind's messianic seat
for speaking universal salvation,
each body's bodhisattva meat
to co-invest love's warm redemption.
Copyright © Gerald Dillenbeck | Year Posted 2015
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