This has nothing to do with the election

What do you need?

An old Zen parable has the master and student in a rowboat on a lake. “What do you need more than anything?” the master asks. “Wisdom,” replies the student seriously. The master rises, steps to the student, and plunges him into the water. Each time the student rises, the master pushes his head back under the water, until finally he relents, just long enough to repeat his question: “What do you need more than anything?”
“Air!” the student screams hoarsely, and the master pulls him back into the boat. “When you need wisdom as passionately as you needed air, then you will be ready to learn.”

One moral of the story is “Don’t trust zen masters in a rowboat.” But a more subtle lesson here involves deciding what it is you truly need. People in the Sudan need to not be gang-raped and to not see their wives, daughters and mothers repeatedly violated. People in Aleppo need to not have cluster bombs dropped on them and to receive food and medical care. Our troops need to return to their families, and their families need their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and children to return home safely. People around the world need peace, freedom, and dignity, and to not be imprisoned for their beliefs.

A year ago, when my child was near death in the hospital, we needed nothing more desperately than to have her heal and recover and live. Now that she is home, alive, and healthier  (if not fully recovered), we have to remind ourselves of that painful truth. The specter of death can really help focus your attention and order your priorities. So while we may not have all the “things” we need, we have those things which really matter, which sustain and fulfill us through whatever we may face: our faith, our family, our friends. We are truly thankful for these, and the many blessings we have.