what is it that happens to a person when he/she is met by the public with adulation? i've seen a man eaten alive by his own idea of how holy he was. i've watched folk throw loved ones away to adore at the fungus on a guru's feet. O Fame, adoration... "there is the holy one!."...O. O...oh no! projection... to carry a crowd's need ....Does the heart shut down? Do the eyes look back in the mirror? Does the head swell up, like a helium balloon, and lift the feet right off the earth? keep me humble, Lord and Lady, whatever You give me to do.

Encounter: May 2003 A stranger tells me in a whisper that she has AIDS. She looks about to be sure nobody else hears. She says she has tried all the meds but nothing works. Now there is a new med and she is going tomorrow to see about it. I give her a hug and tell her she looks strong. Later I wonder what it was about me, that she picked me to give her secret to. I'm grateful.

Rumi says: "All day I think about it . Then at night I say it Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that. "