The rub. If I am not responsible for the whole world, for every component of it, from its minutest to its monumental elements, then for what am I responsible? Anything less than limitless responsibility turns responsibility on its head and into a deformed image of itself. We are responsible for all, everyone, anything and everything, always, before we are responsible for anything. We cannot have one without the other, just as we cannot have a room in the house without having the house, or a continent or a span of the sea without having the earth.
Love the Dust 
“It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean.” – Jon J. Muth,
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Thank you for introducing me to Muth through his wondrous saying here. I am always thinking about the state of children’s books. This man seems a fine candidate for a maker of them.
Great to hear from you, Michael.
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My pleasure. Jon is one of my favorites, but I find his Zen easy to relate to. May you have a great day.
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I will be looking for him more, now. Always a beginner’s mind. Thank you. May your day shower some sweetness on you.
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Yes! I think so much in this way but I cannot seem to put this on fresh blank paper.
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Some of the greatest thoughts we have seem to be plagued with contradictions when we set out to express them. There is no telling whether they will ever be resolved, these contradictions. Sometimes we don’t know just what we are thinking until we try to say a word about it.
It refreshed me to hear a clear resonance today. It is a gift to know we are thinking and dreaming together.
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Yes very much so. Yes I do as well.Thank you.
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This: “Anything less than limitless responsibility turns responsibility on its head and into a deformed image of itself.”
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Joy to you, Stacey.
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Hi.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
I tried to find a quote where I thought she’d said, “If you are able to respond you have a duty to be responsible…” but maybe I made that one up?
I don’t know if a sense of responsibility for the collective has ever truly been agreed upon though. The Palestinians certainly didn’t like the Jewish State being granted more legitimacy over them by the Roosevelts. And so much for Jimmy Carter’s attempts! Politics and religion aside we might be able to accomplish what you are saying… but the one-world order will undoubtedly be ruled by money (and war) until our inevitable extinction event.
Not to sound gloomy. I realize my comment is a lousy forecast! You have a sweet heart.
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Don’t worry about the gloom here, as your points are incisors. Especially regarding the Roosevelts, as those with responsibility on their lips could turn out to be some of the more insane agents on this earth, seeking power and exploiting that power to the terror of the world.
There is something shaky about the whole thing, even if the voice of this last piece (The rub) seems to speak with confidence. That’s the rub!
At bottom, thank you. I love a good comment, and yours is a good and rich one. I believe there is resonance throughout.
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You mentioning it being shaky reminds me of the Fiddler on the Roof…
Thank you for bringing your site and insights.
And for welcoming me!
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I have had a long love of Fiddler, since first seeing it with my grandma as a boy. You make me want to revisit it.
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My niece was in a school production of it and the boy who played the Papa couldn’t have been more than 15. He nailed it. I was astonished. I need to revisit the film version too!
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That’s beautiful. I hope she continues a love for the theater.
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She’s had a lot of those “there’s no small parts, only small players” and she announced rather seriously she’s going to be focusing on her pottery. But the boy in the lead has a future in it. Thank you for indulging me with my “memory lane” and I apologize for the tangent. I only meant your words had a way of walking the roof ledge, hitting those perfect notes… following the music bright and precarious and full of shimmering. Very much alive.
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Thank you, Mr. Z. I just particularly love the theater, and have acted a long time, so no need to apologize about this lane of memory at all.
Pottery is stellar, too. The beginning of theater and pottery go hand in hand.
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