Thirty-Nine - Wholeness
In Thirty-Nine, Lao Tsu begins with one of his parallel lists. The lists are bound together by the idea of wholeness - the Oneness of the Tao. Heaven, Earth, Spirit, The Valley, The Ten Thousand Things, and the Rulers all have their essential quality by which each attains “wholeness.” Without that essential quality, each of these things would be divided, broken apart, exhausted, or made to fall down.
From these “humble” beginnings the base quality through which each thing excels and becomes Whole, the highest things are made to rise up. “Do they not depend on being humble?” The simplest things deserve our attention. These small things are inevitably connected to the entire web of life and existence. We cannot know the One without knowing it in the simplest of things