In these times...

I am in more contact with those who have financial challenges. I have them too. I know people who might be evicted, and are looking for work. Wonder, more than ever, why are there such large discrepancies. Some people work customer service jobs 7 days a week, every day of the year, except Christmas. Tonight at work I found myself talking to someone who was very stressed out and complaining a lot, as usual. He said he just can't get his mind to be quiet. I said, "You can use music..." "Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "Or, what I did the other day, stare at the light on a computer desktop...or a candle. "That's it, maybe I'll use a candle. I don't have a computer," he said. He also said, "You know, I just love fire. I noticed that when I'm at work, I just always keep gazing into the pizza oven...it's like I can't help it." "Yeah, that's like meditation, you're trying to meditate then, you're trancing. People used to sit around the fire and do that." I said, "If you do that then you can filter out the stuff you don't need and focus on what is helpful to you." "That's what I'll do, I'll meditate and I'll pray on it." It was a kind of nice turn to an oft-repeated scenario.
Now I just have to remember...