|
Today's
Meditation:
This is one of the most common concepts that you'll
find in self-help literature, and I think that it's a very
important one. But I also think that often it's
taken too far, as will most concepts when you add words
like "always" or "everyone." We
all meet so many people in our lives that it just makes no
sense to say that "everyone you meet is your
mirror." We will meet people who are racists,
who are angry at the world, who are angry at themselves,
who are socially inept, who are rude and obnoxious,
whether we are all those things or not.
I'm sure that there were loving people in the theater in
Colorado when the gunman opened fire, just as there have
been loving people in the wars of the world and in places
where disease has spread. There were loving people
in the middle of the Holocaust. And we do read
literature from people like Viktor Frankl who did not lose
his ability to love and see hope even in the concentration
camps, but for that period of time, he certainly did not
live in a "loving world."
It's important that we view life pragmatically-- though we
strive to build a loving world around us, the rest of the
world does intrude on what we try to build. Though
we strive to choose our friends carefully, we still must
get jobs and work with people whom we may not wish to have
as friends. And yes, our attitude does go a long way
towards making any situation much more bearable, or even
pleasant, but there are times when our attitude simply
doesn't change anything around us.
Be loving, and create a loving world, but remember that a
non-loving world may intrude upon your love. Be
caring, and build a caring world; be compassionate and be
encouraging. We do have the ability to create our
own worlds in the best ways we know how-- but everyone else
is creating their worlds, and we need to know how to deal
with it when their worlds-- which may or may not be similar
to ours-- intrude on ours.
|
