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39. The Carp Story

Reflection by Edgar Cahn

Yes.  The Carp story is awesome:  a whole community coming together to address one critical and seemingly idiosyncratic need: a rare fish, an Asian fish market, knowledge of how to remove the carp’s thyroid and gallbladder, a marine biologist with a dissecting kit, a former microbiotic chef, a pressure cooker all come together to address a serious blood disorder.

But in our awe of this moment, are we overlooking how miraculous, how unlikely is it that we are even here.  How against all odds is it that this species could have evolved (as noted on day 12) from a prehistoric fish that crawled out of the water.  And how miraculous is any moment of any day when it is transformed by purpose and by meaning. How extraordinary is the capacity that each of us has, to create a moment that increases the well-being of another.  Or, even more extraordinary, how exceptional is our own capacity to absorb understanding that enhances the capacity of our own being to comprehend, to empathize, to imagine new possibilities and turn them into a new reality.

Making carp soup is miraculous.  But so, from a perspective of eternality is every moment of meaning that we can create in each of our lives.


Next page: 40. The Gift of Giving

 

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