I like the way the Buddhists remind me that life is just the way it is.  Struggle they call it–like the constant irritation of a wheel out of balance.  But if we get comfortable with this wobble, we are in heaven on earth.  If I can make peace with the barking dogs of doubt, fear, insufficiency and anxiety, then they are more friendly and don’t block my path.

But I also appreciate the religions that depict a personal face of the Divine.  I am human, after all, and it is nice to have a human face for a friend–even if it does have 8 hands or is in the shape of a huge loving elephant.  The details are only important when the dog that barks needs a specific master.

Lonely and afraid, I put myself in the womb of the Majestic Mother Elephant.  When I need courage, it is the Goddess of the Woods, the elk and cougar by Her side.  Yet when the illusion of duality ambushes me, it is the faceless Tao that soothes me.

I can’t figure out why more people don’t just use the god of choice for each day.  Why worry about which is the “right” one.  I like to invite them all to my day, the crowd of god faces makes my smallest step a huge party of the Presence.