{"id":428,"date":"2008-12-31T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-31T09:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief\/"},"modified":"2008-12-31T09:22:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-31T09:22:00","slug":"end-of-the-year-thief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html","title":{"rendered":"End of the Year: Thief!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"See<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
All years are thieves and this one was most thorough going in that regard for many.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I looked at my photos for a graphic for this post but didn\u2019t find anything that fit. Google Image search for \u201cthief\u201d was not even close to dead-on so I searched \u201c<\/span>Zen<\/span><\/span> thief\u201d and was quite surprised at the results \u2013 <\/span>check it out<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
As the year ends and I reflect on the past year, I remember the bold sentiment of moving-on in \u201cMay old acquaintance be forgot\u2026.\u201d A hearty dharma<\/a> tune.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s my year-ending prayer:<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
May we honor where we\u2019ve been and who we\u2019ve been there with\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
by celebrating all of our virtues,<\/span><\/div>\n
taking responsibility for our own failings,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
forgiving\u00a0the failings of others,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
resolving to fully embody the Buddha way through wholehearted practice-enlightenment,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
planting tender seeds for the good every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
And here\u2019s a good year-ending poem by Jane Hirschfield from an old collection, <\/span>October Palace<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Thief<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Every fire is stolen.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\n

And so lovers,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

after, their arms or thighs touching<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

lightly, find themselves\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

even in daylight speaking in whispers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not to escape the passionate,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

vanquished gods, who, the Greeks told us,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

hated our happiness with an inexplicable heat,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

but because their tenderness raises<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

its clear, wild sap in artesian tongues of desire<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

wedded wholly to jealous time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For fish, water is endless; for birds, the air.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And our element, endless too.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But who can fin unstoppably in desire,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

that lifts and lets go legs, outreaches arms,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

quickens and slows even breath? It pins us<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

to this world we thieve and thieve from, want without pause,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the hunger blossoms first of flower, then snow.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Until the single fragrance spilling and we open<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

to the dark that comes to take us \u2013 embrace<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

that should be brutal, yet somehow not. No, intimate,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

almost a kindness, the quick taking.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And then that too is faithfully stripped from our arms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All years are thieves and this one was most thorough going in that regard for many.\u00a0 I looked at my photos for a graphic for this post but didn\u2019t find anything that fit. Google Image search for \u201cthief\u201d was not even close to dead-on so I searched \u201cZen thief\u201d and was quite surprised at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEnd of the Year: Thief!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All years are thieves and this one was most thorough going in that regard for many.\u00a0I looked at my photos for a graphic for this post but didn't find\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"End of the Year: Thief!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All years are thieves and this one was most thorough going in that regard for many.\u00a0I looked at my photos for a graphic for this post but didn't find\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-12-31T09:22:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/tbn1.google.com\/images?q=tbn:PHldjBbFg5j1qM:http:\/\/www.enigmagraphics.com\/images\/illustrations\/crow.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html\",\"name\":\"End of the Year: Thief!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-12-31T09:22:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-12-31T09:22:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"All years are thieves and this one was most thorough going in that regard for many.\u00a0I looked at my photos for a graphic for this post but didn't find\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/12\/end-of-the-year-thief.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"End of the Year: Thief!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. 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