Standing Outside of the Limelight: My Contemplation of Verse 36 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 36 of the Tao Te Ching:

Should you want to contain something,

you must deliberately let it expand.

Should you want to weaken something,

you must deliberately let it grow strong.

Should you want to eliminate something,

you must deliberately allow it to flourish.

Should you want to take something away,

you must deliberately grant it access.

The lesson here is called

the wisdom of obscurity.

The gentle outlasts the strong.

The obscure outlasts the obvious.

Fish cannot leave deep waters,

and a country's weapons should not be displayed.

It is no coincidence that I had to read this verse of the Tao Te Ching.  I have been considering a situation.  I've been wondering whether to stay on or leave.  I don't want to bring attention to myself, but I must announce my departure.  I don't like to be confrontational or rude when I announce my plans.

This verse encourages me to remain in obscurity.  That means I must remain humble, kind, and considerate.  I don't want to hurt feelings.  I don't want to offend anyone, either.  I just want to move on in my journey.

Here are three ways to remain out of the limelight of situations:

1. Recognize the true nature of people.  My mother often used a saying--What a drunk man tells you is the truth.  If you want to know about someone, just let them talk and talk.  Pretty soon, you will know what they are about.  There is no need to devise plans to get at the truth.  God shines a light on the person's true character.

2. Allow a situation to run its course.  This verse teaches that in order for a situation to improve, sometimes it goes worse.  I think that applies to finances and health.  A health problem is sometimes so dire so as to require painful surgery; however, a patient often improves afterwards.

3. Get in touch with God's will in a situation.  What is our true nature?  A fish cannot live outside of water; it is not natural.  What about us?  What does God require of us?  What is our purpose?  Are we to shed light in the darkness?  Are we to teach?  Are we to be doctors?  lawyers?  garbage collectors?  Let's embrace our true nature as God intended.

The Bible is full of stories of horrific people and situations.  In order to experience the goodness, we have to know the badness.  In order to know freedom, we must know what it is to be bound.  In order to know kindness, we must often encounter rudeness.  The converse in all these situations is true, too.

Thanks for reading today's post.  

I appreciate it.  

I hope this post blesses you, my dear readers.

I've got some questions for you: Are you living in the limelight?  Or are you remaining as an unknown?  What is your true nature?  What situations are troubling you right now?  I pray we all seek our true nature.  Let's also try to see circumstances for what they truly are; most basic life situations have already occurred to others throughout mankind's walk on this earth.  If our predecessors could live through them, we can, too.

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.