So far, we've completed two series on the Tao Te Ching and we've just begun to wend our way slowly through it again. People who embrace different belief systems pore through the Torah, Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon and countless other texts over and over again. Moving beyond religion and philosophy, it's not uncommon in the least for any of us to reread a favored book more than once.
Why read something if you've already read it before? It's not like the words magically will change or the chapters will switch order!
Derek Lin of TrueTao.org put into words what most of us know intuitively. We read and reread those texts that hold meaning for us not because we expect the words to change, but because WE change and this often leads us to learn new lessons and gain new insight.
This is just as true for songs as it is for books. There are many songs that I understood one way when I was younger and, now that I'm older, they hold a completely different meaning to me.
In fact, every aspect of our lives undergoes these sorts of perpetual transformations. My relationship with my dear wife today is much different than it was a quarter of a century ago. We aren't the same people who met in 1984. Like wine, as we've aged, our relationship has grown deeper and more flavorful.
Why read something if you've already read it before? It's not like the words magically will change or the chapters will switch order!
Derek Lin of TrueTao.org put into words what most of us know intuitively. We read and reread those texts that hold meaning for us not because we expect the words to change, but because WE change and this often leads us to learn new lessons and gain new insight.
This is just as true for songs as it is for books. There are many songs that I understood one way when I was younger and, now that I'm older, they hold a completely different meaning to me.
In fact, every aspect of our lives undergoes these sorts of perpetual transformations. My relationship with my dear wife today is much different than it was a quarter of a century ago. We aren't the same people who met in 1984. Like wine, as we've aged, our relationship has grown deeper and more flavorful.
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