Some beliefs are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose one's own direction. Other beliefs are like gateways opening wide vistas for exploration. Some beliefs weaken a person's selfhood. They blight the growth of resourcefulness. Other beliefs nurture self confidence and enrich the feeling of personal worth.
Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death, impotent in a changing world.
Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling, ever growing with the upward thrust of life. The rushing of the wind and the pouring of the sun gather us together with blessing and comfort. The colors flowing in the field and sky, light over eyes, over faces, the windy colors and the colors of warm, tideless gardens, heal our spirits and feed our hungers. The lifting sounds of trees and grasses, the noises of men and women eddy into songs of human togetherness. The purity of birds singing, the music of throat and brass and wood, these are golden to the ear lonely for beauty.