Sometimes, it becomes easy to throw stones. Especially, when we momentarily forget that we too, live in glass houses.
There is a phrase, which we all have heard.
“There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Even if you don’t believe in a god, this is a good one to keep, right where you can find it. I, of anyone, should know and retain this phrase every moment of my life.
I am embarrassed, and disappointed to say, that sometimes I fail to remember this.
Sometimes, we hear of people who have hard troubles. They get arrested on drug charges, or they are homeless, or they’ve committed a major error, or worse, a crime. We just can’t understand why someone would do something like this.
Other times, we just shake our heads, or our fists, at people who are different from us. They may be born from another race, or sexuality. They may hold different ideas about human rights, or politics, or religion. We denounce their views.
But when we feel this way, when we act this way… are we making things better?
I need to remind myself, to ask these questions…. .of me. Of MY part here, in this world, in this time, in this space.
What have I done today to bring about peace, understanding, and freedom throughout the world? ….. and maybe more importantly…. in my own corner of the world?
Have I listened to others? Truly listened? Have I tried to think the way they think, see their point of view? Have a walked that mile in their shoes?
Is there any person whom I have treated unfairly? Or with disrespect? Have I taken the time to be compassionate with every person I have encountered?
Am I doing the next right thing?
Sometimes we need to slow down, and listen.
Listen for the answers to these questions.
It won’t come from a big thunderous voice it the sky. No. It will come from the deepest, truest, most loving part of our inner selves. It will come from our hearts. And then we will know.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
― Mother Teresa