Once upon a time in a place of magic and truthfulness, a place far away from today’s world and very near to our hearts, a wandering woman wizard of great girth and grit knocked with great gusto on the doors of the local palace. The woman entered the palace, and marched right into the throne room where the king and queen were seated in their weekly audience with the town’s people.
The queen looked at the woman and asked her, “what is it that you want, woman?”
And the wandering woman wizard answered, “A place to sleep in this inn.”
The queen responded, “This is no inn, this is our palace.”
“Your Queenship, may I ask who owned this place before you?”
And the queen replied, “My mother. She is dead.”
And who owned this place before her?”
And the queen replied, “My grandmother. She is dead as well.”
The wandering woman wizard replied, “so, you describe this palace as a place where people lodge for a brief while and move on – is that not an inn?”
With thanks to Anthony de Mello and Paul Brian Campbell.
Indeed, what is it that we all want but a safe place to lay our heads and find some rest when we are tired? We are all looking for a safe have, a safe home, a place where we are known and loved.
Every now and again, I think it is a good idea to remember that we are all strangers in a strange land, pilgrims who may or may not be making progress. What a grace and joy it is when we find a special someone to travel with for a while.
And, with Nell Morton, let us all remember that the journey is indeed our home. There is no particular there that we should be getting to, no grand goal to be attained. There is here and now, this moment, this very precious moment as we all travel along on our journeys.
So, as we all travel along, at the end of each day’s journey may we each find a warm and welcoming inn. May we each travel in the company of someone who knows and cherished us even with our tatters, someone who we know and cherish as well. May we all travel paths that lead us to places of wisdom and compassion.
To one and all,
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, ’till we meet again.
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It’s the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.
Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, ’till we meet again.
And, since I am in the mood and am remembering Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, here are the Roy Rogers Riders Club Rules:
- Be neat and clean.
- Be courteous and polite.
- Always obey your parents.
- Protect the weak and help them.
- Be brave but never take chances.
- Study hard and learn all you can.
- Be kind to animals and take care of them.
- Eat all your food and never waste any.
- Love deeply and take time to feel awe in nature.
- Always respect all cultures and wisdom traditions.
(ok, so I tweaked a few of them, by and large they are still pretty good rules for traveling buckaroos.)
JustAlchemy 