Today my Secret will be short as I have a household project which needs my attention. Instead of today’s writing offering suggestions for living a life filled with peace, I am going to pose a question for your careful consideration.

Listen to these words from a speech which Alan Watts gave, entitled “From Time to Eternity:”
“We in the West think of the world as an artifact, something made by a grand technician, the Creator. But the Hindu’s do not think that the world is created at all. They look upon the world as a drama, not as created, but as acted and they see God as the supreme actor or what is called the cosmic self, playing all the parts. In other words, you and the birds and bees and flowers, rocks and the stars are all a big act being put on by God, who is pretending in order to amuse himself, through the many eternities, who is pretending that he is all of you. And this is not, after all an unreasonable idea because if I were to ask you very seriously to consider what you would do if you were God, you might find, I think, that being omniscient for always and always and always, and being in control of everything would be extremely boring. You would want a surprise. After all, what are we trying to do with our technology – we are trying to control the world. And if you will imagine the ultimate fulfillment of technology, when we really are in control of everything, and we have great panels of pushbuttons whereon the slightest touch will fulfill every wish, you will eventually arrange to have a special red button on it marked “surprise.” And you would touch that button and you will suddenly disappear from your normal consciousness, and find yourself in a situation very much like the one you’re in now, where you feel a little bit out of control of things, subject to surprises, and subject to the whims of a not altogether predictable universe.

My question, for today, is: “Do we really need the chaos, the uncertainty, that Watts speaks of, in order to life a full life? And, if we do need these surprises, in what ways do we ensure their existence in our lives?”

I am not offering any answers today, just questions. I think this concept is worth consideration. If I decide that I, in fact, do need the feeling that life is happening, beyond anything I can control, what keeps me struggling; what keeps me stuck in resistance to this understanding?

May you spend some time considering these questions and may the answers you find lend you some insight into the ways you choose to act and to react as a result of life’s many adventures.

Much Light, Love, and Laughter to you on this fine summer day.