It had been a long seven day journey, and now that he had found his 7th Day Tree he just wanted to rest and enjoy. In other words, not move! But as he laid back admiring the great tree his spirit had led him to, his mind and soul were rejoicing. Yinney’s inner world was highly active.
Sloths fool people. They look at a sloth and say, “Nothing much going on there. Hello? Anybody home?” Then they laugh and move on.
“Let them move on,” Yinney thought. “Maybe someday they will learn to appreciate the beauty of slow, when they are no longer young and foolish. Now that I have my tree, I can begin writing my book: ‘The Teachings of Yinney’, with a subtitle of : ‘The Beauty of Slow’.”
Yinney’s contemplation continued, “It’s not about slowing down simply for the sake of going slow, but it’s about the ‘glow’ of slow, and the ‘flow’. I will write of these things, and my 7th Day Tree becomes my classroom, my place of rest, my place of faith.”
The sacred tree was not called the “7th Day Tree” only because it was the place a sloth pooed every seven days. Sloth’s were avid readers of ancient texts. When a sloth is not moving, they may be reading. They have very tiny books hard to be seen by someone on the ground. His father had left books for Yinney, and among them was the great Jewish books of the Hebrews. These books were revered by all three-toed sloths because they spoke of living in a state of rest. If there was one thing sloths understood, it was rest.
In the Old Covenant, the Creator had instructed for the 7th day to be kept holy and be a day of rest. However, it is plainly written as the Christ completed the Old Covenant, that day of rest was expanded into a lifestyle! Not just on the 7th Day, but by faith live in the 7th Day all week long, even as Yinney would live in his 7th Day Tree!
He slowly reached for a leaf as he continued, “Most people don’t understand how you can be at rest and still get anything done, but rest is a state of peace, a state of faith, a state of flow, spiritual and supernatural, empowered by the All-Creator. It is contentment while still reaching,” his claws finally reached the leaf.
“So many people are asleep, but have no rest,” he continued. “But he who walks in spirit knows a rest that is fully awake. ‘Desire’ is a hard taskmaster. Better to be content and flowing forward like a lazy river, rather than caught in rapids. The beauty of slow is to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. You could say the journey is the destination. Does anyone ever fully arrive? And if one does, what happens then? Boredom?”
And so Yinney was enjoying the fruit of his journey as he laid back in his 7th Day Tree. It would be another seven days before he needed to poo again, meanwhile he was safe in his tree. The sounds of the Amazon echoed all around. The exotic birds, the occasional roar of a large cat, the screams of monkeys, he enjoyed it all, for the Amazon was full of life!
While Yinney rested way to the south, Jerry was fit to be tied in North America. He still had a large order of wood to deliver in two days. Tomorrow was Sunday and certain “church-goers” in his employ did not like working seven days a week. Not only that, but there was talk of inviting a Union Rep to organize all the mills around the state, and push to join the Union. If that happened, not only would overtime be “time and a half”, but Sundays would be “double-time”!
Jerry thought he knew who were the main two stirring everyone up about the benefits of the Union. He was still the boss here. There must be a way to stop this, he thought. No Union was coming into his mill if he could help it.
A small picture on his desk momentarily catches his eyes, causing him to pause. There was Dorothy and his two kids. He reminded himself he was doing all this for them. He smiled as he thought of Dorothy getting in shape. She was all excited last night as she told him about joining the spa, how it got her out of the house, the great bargain it was, and it was good for her. Yes, she seemed happy. Jerry was glad, this distraction kept her off his back. She had been doing a lot of complaining about how much he was gone. He would gladly pay the spa bill if it kept her busy.
Suddenly pain hit his stomach and began crawling up his throat. “Yuk!” Pulling his desk drawer open he reached for the bottle of antacids. “I gotta stop drinking so much coffee,” he concluded, as he swallowed several pills. He had been saying that for a year, but so far drank just as much, maybe even more.
Yinney spent his day slowly exploring his new home. It was big enough to provide protection, with many limbs too small for a Jaguar to climb upon. But it was also a humble tree. It will grow with the nutrients of Yinney’s special poo. It was perfect, and tomorrow he would find the best limb dropping into the lagoon. Holding his breath for as long as forty minutes, he wanted to try underwater meditation. This had been part of his master plan all along. He continued thinking about the dire implications Lu-Lu had spoke of also. Yes, if this was true, then there would be much need for three-toed sloths of the old ways. They would find his tree, and he would give them hope, as only his people could.
What could he see from the highest limb, he wondered. Looking upward he liked the idea of it, but decided to save his energy. It had already been a lot this day. Tomorrow the lagoon, and maybe a climb to the top the next day. After all, there was no rush. Yinney was in complete peace as he enjoyed his many pleasures.
Path Without End 