The wisdom of the Tao

I found myself part of an amusing scene at Gatwick Airport last Saturday. I had a ticket to Venice departing that day but wasn't clear until I was on the train and halfway to the airport, whether I would actually go or not (ie, whether it was 'on my path' to go).I had had an extroadinary week with some unusual things happening to me energetically (more on that later) and wanted to honour where I was at and what was the right thing to do. So I just followed the signs and asked for help, taking care to follow what was wanting to happen, watching my motivations and following my soul's impulse as much as I could. As such I found myself at Gatwick Airport departure lounge at about 3.30pm on the Saturday with an hour to spare before my flight took off.A wallchart displaying the world religions beckoned through a doorway, and I soon found myself inside a small multi-faith chapel. Other than this poster, which I found myself reading avidly - I've always been interested in the space where all the religions meet - there was no other indication that this was a place for all religions, as every other surface was covered with 'orthodox' Christian material and the pulpit was decorated in obvious Christian symbology. Still it was a cool, quiet place and relaxing to be in.I found myself drawn to the passage on Taoism, whose symbol of course is the 'yin/yang' sign (I'd always felt a degree of sympathy with its founding tenets, including the concept of ‘wu wei’ or ‘non-doing’: ie, that all beings that are in harmony with the Tao behave in a natural, uncontrived way – as planets revolve around the sun or as trees grow, they do so without trying to do so, or by efforting in any way).I was reading through the comments book and chuckling to myself at the 'there is only one God'-style comments from people of all religions (I often find religion more divisive than uniting, but that's another story) as a group of three - a man and two women - pushed open the door and came in. I acknowledged them and rather entertainingly soon found myself ensconced in a (rather one-way) conversation about Christianity (it transpired that they were Christian ministers visiting from Ireland).Interestingly, it was the man who took it upon himself to try to 'convert' me (although it was quite clear from my initial answer to their 'Do you have a faith?' question that I was no longer 'searching' as such and had a clear spiritual 'impulse' of my own). It was extraordinarily funny (though I took care not to show this on the outside) because he appeared to be twisting the meaning of some of the Christian literature he held in his hand to his own ends and presenting it as truth. I just smiled. And they looked on at me, slightly alarmed and, I thought, unnerved by my answers and the fact that I had clear spiritual direction of my own, but drawn from within rather than from a spiritual text.And as they left I inwardly blessed them. I had listened with openness to what they had to say (I had pledged always to be open to understanding and respecting another's truth, regardless of whether it was aligned with my own). And I had spoken my own truth clearly when asked. But I sensed that it was not on my path to speak out more strongly than this. It would have spoiled the energetic harmony of that moment. I was, I thought, flowing with the wisdom of the Tao!I sat down and put a comment in the book, wishing all those who visited the room, whether of a particular faith or none at all, to find their authentic truth and the strength to follow it - and went on my way, still smiling from the unexpected exchange.