Blogging With Goodly Intentions: Living Through the Suffering: My Contemplation of Verse 42 of the Tao Te Ching

The Intention of My Blog

Welcome, my beloved readers!

In case you're wondering, it's not a typo up there for you see the definition of goodly is:

–used as an adjective to describe something
1. of ample or good size, ex: a goodly amount.
2. of a fine appearance, ex: a goodly young man.
3. Archaic. of good quality, ex: a goodly gift.

I am a mother who home educates her children; I would be pleased if you'd look around. You never know if I might have something to your liking. I've blogged about different topics. I hope you enjoy your stay here. May God bless you with peace, a renewing of your mind, and rest as you read my posts.

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Thanks to all for your patience as I have been on the mend. I had double heart bypass surgery in February of 2013, and I needed to focus on my recovery, which has been in steady progress. Thanks for your kind consideration.

Thanks for visiting!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Living Through the Suffering: My Contemplation of Verse 42 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am focusing on verse 42 of the Tao Te Ching, particularly this portion:

People suffer at the thought of being

without parents, without food, or without worth,

Yet this is the very way that

kings and lords once described themselves.

For one gains by losing,

and loses by gaining.

Suffering is a human condition. Believe me, I'm a human, and I am suffering right now. I have pain in my body and in my heart. I am without parents to turn to when I feel lonely and misunderstood. I am without good health.

On the other hand, I also have other things. I have a home and cars. I have a laptop and printer. I have countless things in my house. I have an overabundance of possessions, more than I ever had before, when I was a child.

There's a give and take to life.

When you grow up poor, you learn to appreciate what you gain as the years pass. I now have a wonderful husband. I turn to see him right next to me sleeping in our bed. I get up and kiss my babies, who aren't really babies. I visit my Facebook and read about my friends' lives.

Yes, I am living without certain things and people in my life. Yet, I have many things and people in my life, too. I am very grateful. For example, as the verse above shows, the a king becomes a king because his parents pass away. You can see that even a king suffers.

Now, I am in pain. Tomorrow, I will feel better. This pain is temporary. Someday, I will definitely lose this pain. It's up to God if that means I will pass away (and have the ultimate healing) or experience better health while my body lives on in this world.

Thanks for reading today's post.

I appreciate it very much.

I hope this post blesses you, my dear readers.

I've got some questions for you: Are you suffering right now? What do you think about your suffering? Doesn't it sometimes drive you crazy? How do you get through the pain? Do you turn to God? I pray that would pray to God for His help. He is sure to help you.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name. Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.