GILT by association

The title of my blog "A reasonable Path" got it's influence from a book by Ferenc Mate', entitled, "A Reasonable Life".  I found Mate' thru boating.  He has written several beautiful and informative books on fitting out yachts, but for me his best work was the book about living a simple but rich life.  I don't mean to plagiarize his title and I think the emphasis of my writing is not the historic look at ideals, but at the actual attempts, both failed and achieved, at walking a reasonable path in this life.  It is a given that mistakes have and will be made.  It is also a convention that I follow that the pendulum swings both ways.  As such, it is a  given that great triumphs and success will be achieved.

In my undertaking to walk a certain path I have learned to rely on the "maps" drawn by others who have ventured out before me.  There have been so many, and so often they have drawn beautiful maps and kept informative logs of their journeys.  In my attempts to eat and grow real food and live as a part of this world I have been greatly influenced by the cultures of primitive peoples, especially those who still live simply and as part of the earth.  The writings of Wendell Berry are very thoughtful and prescient, though I believe he might say they are strictly observational.  I have also tried to be mindful of sacred texts from as many different religions as possible.  This has promoted an understanding of the themes common to all religions and to us now.

For me, the two strongest sources of information seem to be the elders and nature.  The elders are those who have lived and risen and fallen and experienced life already.  This is another way of saying history, but has the benefit of becoming personal and taking on a tangible human form.  The other, and the strongest source of education for me seems to be what most of us call "The Natural World".  This too is another way of saying history.  It is a history we as a society have forgotten how to listen to.  This was deliberate in some cases.  The terms nature, or physics, or reality and even the term life, all seem inadequate in addressing this very complex and interconnected event and condition.  It is something that is greater than the sum of its parts, unobservable from our vantage point, mysterious and yet completely accessible to us and inclusive.
A tree can show us our way.  It's own life supports and is supported by other lives.  It is powered by the sun, and reaches toward that obvious source adapting its life to the light available from it.  Its roots are in the earth, from where it came and to where it will return but always in contact with it.  It's strength comes with it's ability to bend with the forces that push against it, it gives in order to get and to remain.  By branching out it acquires character and by aging it's bark becomes beautiful.  Straight and smooth it would just be a stick.
  Any thing I say or think I am sure has been said or thought of before.  By associating with those who have lived before me I can achieve some sort of polish or beauty even, my "gilt".  There have been so many and I will try to mention them not only for your benefit, but so that I will never stop honoring them and being grateful for the maps they have drawn to help me find my own  reasonable path.

In Sedona, Arizona while there for my sister's wedding, I came across a vegetarian restaurant.  On the counter by the cash register was a sticker, like a bumper sticker, that read "Attitude of Gratitude".  I got one and I put it on my motorcycle but I carry that phrase in me and repeat it as often as I can.  I think it informs the way I want to eat, sleep, walk, love, work, and treat other people and all things.  I am even approaching the hard and painful times with the thought that "It is better than to never have been" and "with out the pain I would not know the extent of the joy".  I believe it was in the movie with Anthony Hopkins about the life of the writer C.S. Lewis in which he expresses this beautifully when faced with the death of his wife, Joy Gresham.

If the thought of rapture happening tomorrow frightens you then read some Buddhist text or thought.  If it excites you by all means read the Bible.  If you feel it is all just crazy talk then read the news of what is
going on in the world, (not just sports and entertainment, and this includes US politics) and then look at history.  Once you've done that you might want to read either Buddhist text or the Bible.

As a friend said of his trips down the ICW, "every mile is a mile", every step is a step and the sum of them all is my path.  I shall try to choose each step deliberately and try to be aware of the tracks I leave behind.