Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy
or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.
Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet.
I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

- Groucho (Julius Henry) Marx, comedian, who died
on this date, 1977, age 86


I loathed The Keystone Cops, Jerry Lewis, slapstick of any kind. Still do. But ….. Groucho was different. He was like the male version of Mae West. They got away with what was then called “off-colour" humour, and a lot of it was really clever, I thought.

I am coming along, as the saying goes, about events and happiness. (Given my vocation, you’d think I would have been better at this!) An incident happened the other day that, in the past, would have had be stewing, pissed off, and plotting horrible things – not that I act on them! Instead, I found myself saying a little prayer for the person and just “letting it go”. This has, I think, to do with what Groucho says about “today”. Yesterday may be dead and tomorrow may not have arrived, but they do and always will affect us. One can’t just dismiss them; we have to embrace them and integrate them and their lessons into our Life.

But Groucho is right. The center out of which we live needs to be Today. Jesus is reported to have reminded us not to worry about tomorrow, that “today” is our challenge. Any authentic inner path will teach us to learn from the past, look forward to a tomorrow, and stay centered in today and all the richness it offers us.

As you read this, it’s Today. Mine it for all it’s worth!

Brian+