staying power

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
If you realize you have enough,
you are truly rich.
If you stay in the center
and embrace death with your whole heart,
you will endure forever.
--Stephen Mitchell, Chapter 33, Tao Te Ching

We sat on our favorite bench downtown.

"How come you guys are still alive," I asked. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Jesus and Lao Tzu looked at each other.

"Define dead," said Jesus.

"No longer having a body," I said.

"He is saying that only a body matters," said Lao Tzu to Jesus.

"He is saying that the physical body is all that is mattering," said Jesus to Lao Tzu.

"Hey! Hey!" I said. "I'm right here. What is this 'he' stuff?"

They looked at me.

"Which is more alive?" Jesus asked. "You or your clothes?"

"Me," I said.

"Well, why aren't you naked?" said Jesus.

My mind stopped.

"There," said Lao Tzu.

"Here," said Jesus.