Ashes

 How can I forget

That I am dust and unto 

Dust I shall return?

"Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon them from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins their journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance." 

 - Henri Bergson 

daily zen

Strangely, I've used this analogy most of my adult life. Ten years of catholic school inoculated me against religion. Quite the opposite effect from what my mother intended.  And my questioning began about age seven, when St. Anthony clearly failed to find a small ring I'd lost.  If a saint can't convince a god to find a small child's most treasured possession, what good are they? Nothing should be easier, or more important if they required her belief. The only sensible deduction is that neither exist at all.