Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance chaos to order confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast a house into a home a stranger into a friend.
The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom... in a clarification of life - not necessarily a great clarification such as sects and cults are founded on but in a momentary stay against confusion.
If the Great Way perishes there will morality and duty. When cleverness and knowledge arise great lies will flourish. When relatives fall out with one another there will be filial duty and love. When states are in confusion there will be faithful servants.
Gandhi has asked that the British Government should walk out of India and leave the Indian people to settle differences among themselves even if it means chaos and confusion.
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement who can tolerate not knowing... not healing not curing... that is a friend who cares.
History is full of examples of people who clamp down after they began to enjoy too much freedom. Freedom can lead to instability anarchy and confusion. So there can be a moral counter-revolution.
As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities which may seem a freedom or a confusion.
Yet it ought to be obvious that good music generally occupies a higher plane that mere politics. Great writers can express moods through melody and capture experiences we share most powerfully - love lust longing joy rage fear triumph yearning and confusion.
Almost all the ideas we have about being a man or being a woman are so burdened with pain anxiety fear and self-doubt. For many of us the confusion around this question is excruciating.
Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are they provide something steady reliable and safe in a confusing world.