God's joy moves from unmarked box to unmarked box. - Rumi
My favorite quote from Robert Kennedy also happens to be the only quote I know from Robert Kennedy. But it's still my favorite. In one of his speeches during his 1968 presidential campaign, said, "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
Which is another way of asking, "What if?" WHAT IF? What a magnificent question!
It's the question (in Tom Robbins' words) "that puts the free in freedom and takes the obligation out of love. The question that throws a window open after the final door is closed. The question upon which all adventure, all exhilaration, all meaning, all honor depends. The question that fires evolution's motor of mud. The question that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar. The question that molecules recite before bonding. The question that separates that which is dead from that which is living."
OK, OK, in that last passage, Tom was actually writing about the word "CHOICE." But I think Tom would be cool with "WHAT IF?"
WHAT IF? is a question which offers a mischievous grin and playful challenge to every dogma and doctrine - to every popular opinion and political stance - to everyone who claims to know the mind of God or the meaning of life.
WHAT IF? suggests that maybe everything is not nailed down - proposes that perhaps all the options have not been considered - intimates that there may be something we haven't thought about. In fact, the underlying message of WHAT IF? is this: We just might not know it all. There just might be more going on in this life right now than we can possibly imagine. And that possibility is indeed most excellent to remember at the beginning of a new year. WHAT IF?
Howard is thrilled to hear that many people are reading his new book, "The Main Thing" - the story of Jubilee! Community - with chapters by those who know Jubilee! well. Including Tom Robbins. Though Howard would be the first to admit that Jubilee! would never pretend to be providing the answers to all spirituality and religion, he is proud to say that Jubilee! does indeed teach us to ask better questions. You may purchase a book through Howard's website. Happy New Year!