AT TIMES LIKE THESE (PDF-1116)

There was so much I was going to tell you these days, like that the Solstice was here (Friday) and the Sun is now moving northward, bringing more light each day, or about the so-called Mayan calendar deadline that came and went, yet the world did not end as predicted. But in the midst of all of that, some part of my world here at home did end with the unexpected death of a very close friend of the family. I write so often in these blogs about how the death of a loved one can shatter our carefully-groomed sense of self and we suddenly find ourselves, once again, contemplating impermanence, the second of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind Toward the Dharma, and so it was.