The pace of events necessary to get to Saudi Arabia has been considerably slower than I would like. I finally seem to have been officially acknowledged by those responsible for getting me to KAUST. The paperwork has been submitted for my Saudi visa. Now I must hurry and wait some more. The current schedule has me traveling to the KSA at the end of January or early February. I have been reading much about what life may be like at KAUST. It's difficult to comprehend the nature of the Saudi culture from my U.S.A vantage point. Having lived with a very "womens rights" kind of wife for 30 years and being a firm believer in the notion of individual rights I am intimidated at the censorship and scrutiny that awaits me. The longer I am forced to wait, the more nervous I become. It's silly, of course. As the old Doris Day song says, "que sera, sera" or "what will be, will be". (for you kids, Doris Day was very popular actress and singer in the 50s and 60s.)
I have recently returned to reading and listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer, a well-known writer and speaker on self development. His focus in recent years has assumed a distinctly spiritual flavor which I, as an agnostic, have trouble digesting completely. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of practical wisdom in his writing. I'm in the midst of "Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life", a book which offers a thoughtful analysis of the Tao Te Ching. Dr. Dyer spent a year writing this book and it offers a lot of useful advice of how the Tao applies to life today. The 37th verse of the Tao says, in part:
By not wanting, there is calm,
and the world will straighten itself.
When there is silence,
one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself.
I have to keep reminding myself that all will come in its own time; that one should embrace the now because it's the only thing that exists.
