PLAYING BALL ON RUNNING WATER:
THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’
“Playing Ball On Running Water” is the title of a book I read a long time ago (February, 1985), written by David K. Reynolds, Ph.D. It has to do with Morita psychotherapy…a Japanese philosophy. It is a thin book with a lot of depth of which I don’t have space to indulge in here but is well worth the read. “The Times They Are A Changin’” is a song by Bob Dylan. They seemed to go together when I was thinking about writing this piece.
We live in a world of flux…everything is constantly changing, nothing remains the same. We never set foot in the same river twice, never look at the same sky twice and I’ve read there are 6 trillion chemical and electrical reactions in our bodies every second…change is constant. The good, the bad, the ugly are continually playing musical chairs in our lives. How do we deal with it? We all are individuals and respond differently but there are some core principles that apply.
My main takeaway from Morita Therapy is the practicality of dealing with what life brings our way. If you lose your job, sitting around trying to figure out what happened isn’t going to solve your problem. You need income so get busy finding something and do what you must til something better comes along. It’s always about action. Worry doesn’t change a thing. Some things you can’t do anything about, so no need to worry and if you can do something about it, no need to worry. I’m just a old dude down in Dixieland and I can’t fix the world’s problems but I can be responsible for myself and my actions and my little world.
To me, the Holy Spirit is universal and I rely on His guidance for often I have been a wayward son but He knows the way that I take and prepares it before me…faith is trusting God no matter what. May we walk by faith and not by sight, for the times they are a changing and we need to stay balanced, mind, body, soul and spirit as we walk upon the waters of life. May the Creator's blessings be upon you. S.M.