“Animals praise a good day, a good hunt. They praise rain if they’re thirsty. That’s prayer. They don’t live an unconscious life, they simply have no language to talk about these things. But they are grateful for the good things that come along.”
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
– Lao Tzu
This is true. A good traveler also knows the direction they wish to go, and they continue to seek ways to keep themselves moving in that direction, each day.
On the one hand, our Good Traveler knows that the journey is the destination, and so they strive to remain present and grateful, each step of the way. On the other hand, they are also mindful and conscious in their choice of the direction they wish to go, and they continue to pursue this good and worthy aim with enthusiasm, clarity, and drive.
“I am not going to heaven because I have preached to great crowds or because I’ve read the Bible many times. I’m going to heaven just like the thief on the cross who said in that last moment, ‘Lord, remember me.’”
Emperor penguins are lovely creatures. They are smart and playful. They slide on their bellies in the snow, and they swim with the grace of a majestic bird when they are under the water. Emperor penguins mate for life. They know when they have found the one, and they stay together from that moment forward, forever. They don’t let anything come between them. They don’t let anything pull them apart. I think this is truly a beautiful thing. If you had the chance to go back in time, would you be like an emperor penguin? Would I? I’d like to think that we would. And if, by God’s grace, I ever have the chance again, I believe that I will. Because in my heart, in my nature, I am an emperor penguin.