<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="ydpc35dfef0yahoo-style-wrap" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class="">A Cry From Down The Rabbit Hole In The Time Of The Pandemic</span></div><div id="ydpf4181d6eyahoo_quoted_6801906748" class="ydpf4181d6eyahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);" class=""><div id="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436" class=""><div class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436yqt0326153457" id="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436yqtfd90230"><div class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yahoo_quoted" id="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yahoo_quoted_7069295615"><div id="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992" class=""><div class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp397be5f6yahoo-style-wrap"><div dir="ltr" class=""><br clear="none" class="">I have gone<br clear="none" class="">down the rabbit hole<br clear="none" class="">chasing a bright<br clear="none" class="">promise of information,<br clear="none" class="">which I believed to be<br clear="none" class="">the quick tail of elusive truth,<br clear="none" class="">but so far, down here,<br clear="none" class="">have scarcely gotten<br clear="none" class="">even another glimpse!<div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">You see, I thought I already <br clear="none" class="">possessed that commodity:<br clear="none" class="">that truth was safely inside me.<br clear="none" class="">I pursued my daily <br clear="none" class="">rounds of life with confidence,<br clear="none" class="">eager to make my sojourn here<br clear="none" class="">a vehicle for truth’s stamp<br clear="none" class="">each time the sun came up.</p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">Were those the days!<br clear="none" class="">And in summer, I would travel<br clear="none" class="">to faraway places and sometimes <br clear="none" class="">my holiest spot on Earth, <br clear="none" class="">to refresh those inner wellsprings.</p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">Now my world has been fractured—<br clear="none" class="">cloven asunder by Duality’s sword<br clear="none" class="">in the form of bold voices<br clear="none" class="">speaking into my world<br clear="none" class="">what I considered nonsense,<br clear="none" class="">with straight face<br clear="none" class="">and many earnest points<br clear="none" class="">and copious hyperlinks.</p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">My confidence—<br clear="none" class="">easily shaken when challenged,<br clear="none" class="">a lifelong problem—<br clear="none" class="">falters and I think:<br clear="none" class=""><i class="">“Could they be right?”<br clear="none" class=""><br clear="none" class=""></i>I languish in this rabbit hole<br clear="none" class="">of dualistic parry-and-thrust,<br clear="none" class="">for my Beloved of my heart says<br clear="none" class="">all are One, and even more: <br clear="none" class=""><i class="">“Inscribe these words on your heart. <br clear="none" class="">God alone is real. <br clear="none" class="">Nothing matters but love for God.”*</i></p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">Oh, Beloved!<br clear="none" class="">How do I recover the vision <br clear="none" class="">of Oneness You gave me,<br clear="none" class="">which I enjoyed—<br clear="none" class="">let’s not exaggerate, though,<br clear="none" class="">it was never continuous—<br clear="none" class="">before I dove<br clear="none" class="">down this rabbit hole!</p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">They call this <i class="">cognitive dissonance</i>,<br clear="none" class="">a fancy name for confusion,<br clear="none" class="">for a dragon whose smoke<br clear="none" class="">obscures the clarity of Truth!<br clear="none" class="">A virtual destruction<br clear="none" class="">of the wholeness<br clear="none" class="">I thought I knew.<br clear="none" class=""><br clear="none" class="">Show me how to restore <br clear="none" class="">the perception of Oneness<br clear="none" class="">to my double-vision mental eye!<br clear="none" class=""><br clear="none" class="">Those contrary voices:<br clear="none" class="">How can I see <i class="">they</i> are You as well—<br clear="none" class="">that there is no “right” or “wrong”,<br clear="none" class="">but only You?<br clear="none" class=""><br clear="none" class="">What am I not getting?<br clear="none" class="">God was. God is. God will be.<br clear="none" class="">How can I not see this? </p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">Do what You must, Beloved!<br clear="none" class="">Bang me on the head! Burn me alive!<br clear="none" class="">Skin me and turn me inside out!</p><p class="ydpf4181d6eyiv8265938436ydpc87a5683yiv9904476992ydp8ef5ed19MsoNormal">If this is all a pang of re-birth, <br clear="none" class=""><i class="">please, please,</i> slap me on the ass <br clear="none" class="">and get me the hell<br clear="none" class="">out of here soon!<br class=""><br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Max Reif</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class="">“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”</i></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class="">Wendell Berry</i></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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