What’s beautiful is also wise, or is the practical choice–how’s that for a guideline?–and we (in some cases literally) see and must deal with in concrete terms what we think, say, and communicate. That last may seem like something of a riddle, until we consider how many possible forms it can have; the one thing about it we can pin down is that our idea of our own empowerment (both reach and options) will be challenged (and so need to be modified) in the process.

Today’s word image is a group of people, clothed in skins, gathered around a nighttime fire, passing down stories of the tribe. Tribal affinity, even more so than family, is the basic organizational structure of all civilization. We still align our lives along similar groupings of mutual interests today, through professional groups, shared interests by subject or activity, or personal characteristics, even illness. The thing to consider is that too often we identify with particular groups at least in part out of fear (the group represented by the fire light, which we see as both a means of enlightenment and a vehicle for survival through membership). It may be time to think about our tribal affinities, to make them as conscious as possible, and so to consider whether those are alliances we want to continue and so support.