Turning Away

People often mistakenly compare the brain to a computer. But nearly all analogies fall flat, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that people (with brains) created and evolved the computer. For all that we are learning about how the brain works and how to use it efficiently, we are still pretty much in the dark. 

I could go on. But I am most concerned today with the way the brain doesn't lose images and sounds, though it might hide them from us so well we cannot retrieve them. Today's walk was one built around confession, an act that has to be more than saying one is sorry or regrets a particular action. And I'm realizing that repentance (turning away) is more than acknowledging that an action (particularly one where the mind seems more involved than the body) is "wrong." Sin, I remember, is not about actions or inaction, but about being.

you won't delete

your cache of fear

and you can't erase

your history hate

you must react to every act

and shoot me in the face

when you say you love me

After the evening healing service, I walked the labyrinth. Usually I'm alone, but today four others took the path, one carrying a small wind chime. The tinkling was welcome to my distracted mind. I left my own music in my pocket and went forward, trusting the path.