the pinata of life

Heaven and earth are ruthless;
they treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs.
The sage is ruthless;
he treats the people as straw dogs.
-- D. C. Lau, Chapter 5, Tao Te Ching

I said, "I once caught a vision of God as blood-fanged with smiling eyes. He said he loves us so much he could eat us up. And he does."

"Everything comes and goes," said Lao Tzu. "It serves whatever purpose it might have and moves on. That includes humans."

"Yes," said Jesus. "I myself came to cast fire on the world. It was getting stagnated, more smoke than fire, the fire of the everlasting flow of spirit."

"No destruction, no construction." said Lao Tzu.

We were watching children at a birthday party. One was blindfolded and taking swings with a stick at a pinata. The pinata was beautiful. The child did not care. Wham! A direct hit.

The pinata was broken. Treasure went everywhere.