Embracing Emptiness

       At the suggestion of a good friend, I have selected Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, translated by Brian Browne Walker, as the text for spring semester's Thursday night growth group.  It's an ancient Chinese book that packs amazing wisdom in 81 short poems. 

       Apropos, perhaps, to 2011, here's the 11^th poem.  Enjoy!

Thirty spokes meet at a hollowed-out hub;

         the wheel won't work without its hole.

 A vessel is moulded from solid clay;

        Its inner emptiness makes it useful.

To make a room, you have to cut doors and windows;

        without openings, a place isn't livable.

To make use of what is here,

        you must make use of what is not.