Fragile World
It's a very fragile world, she told us, so walk carefully everywhere you go & we promised to remember for as long as we could.
~Brian Andreas~
There's no end to the fragility of the world in which we live, and the delicate state of our own lives and hearts. Just look around here...all of us, working so hard to build a community and keep it in intact. We've got the purest of intentions, the requisite good wishes for each other, and yet surprises keep intruding on the little piece of paradise we thought we'd crafted. The unexpected appears again and again, and maintiaining even this community is a process fraught with complexity and complication.
Our protection - our only protection - is our own virtue. To what degree do I stay true to myself? Not my stubborn vision of how right I am and how wrong another is, but true to my authentic self. The me that knows that everyone deserves respect, and that sometimes walking away is the right thing, and that winning an argument and losing a relationship is a very bad win indeed.
The authentic me that wants to be recognized for the qualities I have, not for the mistakes I make. The me that is willing to do the work to find something worth liking/respecting in everyone, even if it takes extra time and effort. The me that sees the broken heart hiding in all of us and decides not to add to that pain. The me that sees the burden of sorrow we each carry, and decides not to add to the heaviness.
The me that makes a choice to say a word of encouragement instead of needing to punish someone when they've hurt me. The me that knows that when one of us suffers, we all suffer, and the me that knows that when I can love, then I can be loved.
Our hope, our strength, individually and collectively, is always our virtue. Sometimes it comes from inspiration and faith, but it never happens without making a choice ~ it's never an accident. Gentleness has power and strength contained within it to heal broken hearts, lift heavy burdens, mend torn relationships, sweeten even a bitter soul, and reveal beauty in another. It is a choice, and it's always the right one.
Who Is Writing This Blog?
- Celeste
- Kansas City, United States
- Why The Lazy Radical? It's always my intention to do something amazing to help change the world, and then an episode of Arrested Development comes on, and I get totally sidetracked! I think I'm like a lot of people, moved by the sorrow and outrage in our world, but it's easy to get sidetracked by the ordinariness of daily life. My place of action, my sphere of influence, is the spiritual. For some it's politics or business. For me, it's always been rooted in the concept that relationship with G*d fills us with spiritual power, and that power is what we can bring into the world to effect change. I've been practicing and teaching meditation for the past 30 years. And what I've learned through all of is that the spiritual journey requires real honesty, the willingness to confront every aspect of the self, and the courage to move forward into change. It's not enough to have good ideas or read good books or listen to good teachers. A spiritual orientation requires the practitioner to show up as fully as possible in every aspect of life, even (or especially) when there's discomfort or uncertainty. Spiritual practice isn't the art of perfection; it's the art of presence.
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