from touching heaven
“some of the best advice i’ve received recently about living in time has come from the russian writer leo tolstoy. his story called “three questions” comes to mind as i swing wildly between the life to come and the life behind. tolstoy writes of a king who wrestles with a riddle in the form of three questions-what is the most important time? who is the most important person? and, which is the most important task?
the king is a consummate opportunisit, and is interested not in spirituality, but in strategy. at last he meets a hermit whose simple wisdom-simple, but smart and piercing-exposes the king to a new way of seeing the world:
Now is the most important time; Whoever is directly in front of me is the most important person; Whatever task i am presently engaged in is the most important task.”
