Saying For Today: Still, this encourages us to accept the power we have to bring a light into the darkness and keep it shining - a kin-feeling amid the blame, meanness, and malice that characterize so much of life in the public arena.
Saying: Each appearing of Christ is fresh, unpredictable, and unrepeatable, for timeless. Jesus says, in the Gospel of John, "When you've seen me, you've seen the Father" (14.9). Spirit manifests through the particularity of you and me in time - it is just that some see this, some do not. Some see Buddha, some a person, while some will not even look up. Some say "Hi" to Christ, some to a self, while some say nothing. When you see Spirit revealing Herself, you see Love everywhere, Christ in every direction, Buddha in each face. The whole world becomes illumined as an icon of Grace, with a vast variety of beings incarnating on Earth as revelations of one Light. Of course, the world was already illumined with this Light - we just did not see it.
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Proverbs 3.3 (NLT) -
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
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Fifteen years ago, the presence of someone I had not met before broke into my life, and my presence broke into his life. Kindness we shared, one kindness. This unlikely meeting occurred at a homeless shelter. Call this fate, if you wish, or divine providence, if you want; regardless, the communion is new now, as fresh today as then.
This meeting I will speak of today. Possibly, thereby, you will recall such an encounter with another that graced and graces your life. You might see anew we are always changed, our selves enlarged, by such moments of meeting.
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He was homeless. I met him at the homeless shelter, where he, with many other homeless, came to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. I served as pastor at a nearby church. Being single, with no family nearby to share Thanksgiving with, I decided to serve at the shelter.
After assisting in meal preparation, the men and women outside waiting were invited into the building. I was assigned to assist in keeping the line in order and moving. I positioned myself near the door and began speaking to those incoming and giving them directions.
While I spoke directions to these men and women, I said, "Thank you" as the line moved along. I used "please" when informing them on how to proceed. Speaking like this was second-nature. My parents raised me to express courtesy with "thank you," "please," "may I," and such gestures of respect.
Soon, a middle-aged man stepped up close to me. He leaned over toward me and spoke quietly. He said, "No one has ever spoken that way to me before." I could see in his eyes the kindness had brought him joy. We would say in the culture I was born, "It touched his heart." He came for food; he received that and more. I came to serve him food, he served me so much more.
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We might think we rarely have these moments of spontaneous communion with others. One might, instead, ask, "Is it, rather, that I am not prepared for them to happen?"
Additionally, we might think more time with others will fulfill this desire for kindly, graceful heart-sharing. Then, we might discover, rightly, such sharing, spirit-with-spirit, does not require much social interaction at all. We may experience, likewise, spiritual intimacy with others at a distance. One could even be what others would see as a loner. She, however, might share more intimacy with others than one always about and among others, talking and listening, doing - busying herself to get and keep others' attention, thinking this is what her heart longs for. Then, fortunately, she finds it is not.
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The renowned Tibetan teacher Dromtönpa was circumambulating a temple with a few of his disciples. Circumambulation shows respect to an object of veneration. At the edge of the walking path, a stray dog was lying on the ground. Instead of walking down the middle of the path, Dromtönpa went around the dog to include it in the ritual of reverence. One of his disciples asked him why he was paying such respect to a stray dog. Dromtönpa said, "I'm not paying respect to a dog. I'm paying respect to a being whose nature is enlightened."
The word "kindness" comes from a substantive translated "nation." Dromtönpa realizes the dog is of his nation, his people, his kin - all beings are to the Dromtönpas of this world. Seeing this, the sage naturally includes the dog as something worthy of reverence. He knows the dog is more than a dog.
That day, some fifteen years ago, I looked through the skin of a homeless man. I saw more than a homeless man. I saw Christ. How could I not treat him with reverence? He kindly thanked me for something natural for humans to do - that kindness may surprise persons, says too many of us are not living as humans.
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So, this is a shift we much need. It is happening. This world in which we are seen to be one nation - one kin - without boundaries. Hence, treating other beings, including all Nature, as worthy of respect and honor is creating a new world.
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Kindness is so important, the writer of Proverbs provides guidance, clear and concrete, on keeping it close. The sage writes of kindness as something to wear about the neck, to inscribe deep within the heart. If we forfeit this kindness in our interactions, we lose our humanness. And we see too much of this loss of humanness in the public arena. Still, this encourages us to accept the power we have to bring a light into the darkness and keep it shining - a kin-feeling amid the blame, meanness, and malice that characterize so much of life in the public arena.
Chajala Yusn, healing Giver of All Life, my spirit exudes even to the canopy of heaven. I smile at others today even if I don't feel like it. Both are better for it. I seek happiness in my times of silence; as I draw close I hear my soul whisper to my heart, saying "The happiness you seek is born and reared in the depths of your heart and emerges with Spirit's embrace.
*Maria Yracébûrû. Prayers and Meditations of the Quero Apache.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on mystical traditions, predominantly Christian and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
*Story of Dromtönpa, see Dzigar Kingtrul. Training in Tenderness: Buddhist Teachings on Tsewa, the Radical Openness of Heart That Can Change the World.
