Pause A While

Based on the fictional characters in A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh series, a book called “The Tao of Pooh” employs a number of the Pooh stories to reveal a deeper meaning. Many of the selections in the work are about a Japanese Emperor who spends most of his days attending ceremonial occasions and participating in meetings and making speeches. He is constantly on the move. On one such occasion, it seems that the Emperor’s planning committee made a colossal mistake with his itinerary. He was taken by limousine to a huge meeting hall where he was to deliver a speech to a very large gathering. But when he entered the hall it was empty. It was the wrong day. Whereupon the Emperor walked into the center of this great hall and stood there for several minutes motionless, and in complete silence. Then he bowed to the empty space, turned to his aides and smiled, saying, “You must schedule more appointments like this. I haven’t enjoyed myself…