This morning Jim asked if I had toilet paper on the shopping list.
"That's affirmative."
It reminded me of something that happened in Pennsylvania a few years ago. My spiritual teacher asked an unexpected question one evening as he prepared chai tea for us in his home. "What would you hate to run out of?"
I had walked with him from the main campus less than a quarter mile to his building. We removed our shoes, entered his home and he went directly to the cupboards for ingredients. I stood at the stove by his side watching him prepare tea. At the stove, he grated ginger into the mixture of milk, water and tea.
"What would you hate to run out of?" he asked.
He was silent for a few moments and said nothing more about it.
"That's affirmative."
It reminded me of something that happened in Pennsylvania a few years ago. My spiritual teacher asked an unexpected question one evening as he prepared chai tea for us in his home. "What would you hate to run out of?"
I had walked with him from the main campus less than a quarter mile to his building. We removed our shoes, entered his home and he went directly to the cupboards for ingredients. I stood at the stove by his side watching him prepare tea. At the stove, he grated ginger into the mixture of milk, water and tea.
"What would you hate to run out of?" he asked.
Today, I can think of several clever uplifting answers such as:
energy
vitality
ambulation
creativity
clarity
certainty
friends
humor
togetherness
water
Instead of any lofty answer, I replied, "Toilet paper."He was silent for a few moments and said nothing more about it.
I think I might have failed a test.
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