MY HIDING PLACE

When I was a boy, my brothers and I occasionally played hide-and-seek, and I guess, at 71, I’m still sometimes hiding, but now I know the best hiding place of all – the all-protecting present moment. If I stubbornly stay in the exact present moment, it’s hard to imagine anything harming me, since each present moment is as perfect as it can possibly be, and has power that’s both endless and invincible. Because it never really ends, the present moment is like a land that spreads out forever, and therefore can comfortably hold all my cares and uncertainties until they inevitably dwindle away in the distance. The present is a place of force and freedom – the force that’s the only one in the universe, and the freedom that finds all doors open and all dangers disappearing. It’s a hiding place that’s perfect for a furrowed but unflinching senior citizen.