forcing my hand

Trying to govern the world with force
I see this not succeeding
the world is a spiritual thing
it can't be forced
to force it is to harm it
to control it is to lose it
sometimes things lead
sometimes they follow
sometimes blow hot
sometimes blow cold
sometimes expand
sometimes collapse
therefore the sage avoids extremes
avoids extravagance
avoids excess
-- Red Pine, Chapter 29, Tao Te Ching

We were walking by the lake.

"Be in the world but not of the world," said Jesus.

"What is the world?" I asked.

"All that is under the sky," said Lao Tzu.

I let that sink in.

"I don't like the world," I said. "I want to change it."

"Look," said Jesus, cupping his hand and putting it in the water.

"Is my hand in the water or the water in my hand?"

"Both," I said.

"Can my hand change the water?"

I looked for logical arguments.

Lao Tzu hit me in the head with a pebble.

 "Ow!" I said.

"Wake up!" he said. "Change the water in your own cup!"

"How do I do that?" I asked.

Jesus uncupped his hand.