23 - NOTHING AND NOT

Nature doesn’t make long speeches.

A whirlwind doesn’t last all morning.

A cloudburst doesn’t last all day.

Who makes the wind and rain?

Heaven and earth do.

If heaven and earth don’t go on and on,

certainly people don’t need to.

The people who work with Tao

are Tao people,

they belong to the Way.

People who work with power

belong to power.

People who work with loss

belong to what’s lost.

Give yourself to the Way

and you’ll be at home on the Way.

Give yourself to power

and you’ll be at home in power.

Give yourself to loss

and when you’re lost you’ll be at home.

To give no trust

is to get no trust.