Not Everything

By Doug Marman

Not everything can be explained with words. Not every situation can be understood. Not everyone fits into the boxes we try to put them in.

Tree Sky. Photo by Kim Lessel.

Life is a mystery. Some questions should not be answered. Some questions are for living with, like a companion. Not every picture needs words. Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss.

Not every day can be extraordinary, or extraordinary days would be ordinary. But every moment is meaningful and seeps deeper into our beingness than we realize.

Our mind desperately wants to understand, but not knowing is also a gift because it keeps us learning. Not everything has a beginning and an end. Sometimes it just is.

Where is life taking us? Ask life.

Do you know how to ask life? Do you know how to listen to life’s answers? Can you hear the questions of life? What is life asking you?

Not every teaching can be found in books. Not every teacher has a name. Sometimes the core of our being sails beyond all worlds, leaving names behind.

Not every pause should be filled with words. Moments of silence are never empty. Some speech is noise, some is singing.

Can you hear the stories of the trees? Do you know why they stand in one place for years with outstretched arms? Sit beneath their branches for a while. Listen to their tales.

Sometimes we need to step off our path and see where it is taking us, to appreciate the adventure we are on. Not every gift is visible. Not everyone realizes what a gift they are to others.

Our paths of learning reach back lifetimes. We are not the same as we were when we first began. The world is not the same. Is there an end to this path? How can we understand the meaning of a story that never ends?

Not everything is finite. Our mind can’t grasp infinity—it really can’t grasp it. But we can experience it, and in that experience we too become infinite. How can this be?

Not everything can be explained with words.