Sunday, June 19, 2011

empty-handed

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As the Tao Te Ching observes more eloquently than I, it is the emptiness of things that makes them useful. Because the ear is empty, it can hear. Because the eye is empty, it can see. Because the bowl is empty, it can hold tea. Etc.

A computer glitch wreaked havoc Friday and Saturday on United Airlines:

CHICAGO (AP) - A five-hour computer outage that virtually shut down United Airlines Friday night and early Saturday is a stark reminder of how dependent airlines have become on technology. Complete story.
 Isn't it interesting, the habit of relying on what can just as easily be lost. We come into the world empty-handed, gather up this and that, but tend to neglect our original heritage. What would it be like to be as we are without all the worries and possessions we have gathered up? What would it be like to become empty-handed ... an inescapable truth without which we couldn't have gathered up our stuff in the first place?

What would it be like to be empty-handed? Would it be the same or different?
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