Reflections on neighbors, living in community, and Good Samaritan: themes from Luke 10
On the parable of the Good Samaritan: “I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
Link to the text for this week: Luke 10: 25-37
Questions to consider:
- With what families, kindred, groups, teams, clubs, faiths, organizations, tribes, nationalities, ethnicities, regions, businesses, workplaces, unions, schools, etc. do you affiliate, connect, identify and/or hold membership? Name them. How many ways do you belong to communities?
- When have you felt like a ‘stranger in a strange land’ or an ‘other’ vs a friend or neighbor or a community member?
- What changed helped you connect?
- In a well-known story like this one, with thieves and a person knocked down and robbed on the side of the road, plus public figures who walk around the problem and leave the victim unattended as they make excuses, and another person from an reviled neighboring nation who pays attention and helps the victim by the road, plus an innkeeper who continues to care for the victim, with whom do you identify in the story? Who do you want to be? Who do you think you are right now?
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
(song lyrics)
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor, Would you be mine? Could you be mine? It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood, A neighborly day for a beauty, Would you be mine? Could you be mine? I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you, I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you. So let’s make the most of this beautiful day, Since we’re together, we might as well say, Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor? Won’t you please, Won’t you please, Please won’t you be my neighbor?
Learn more: Cooperative models of evolution in natural world.
Learn more: About your own implicit biases via this Harvard site! Different tests/surveys for different topics.
Defining Implicit Bias (from Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University): Also
known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the
attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and
decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both
favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and
without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing deep
in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that
individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or
political correctness. Rather, implicit biases are not accessible
through introspection.
The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us to have feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance. These associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages. In addition to early life experiences, the media and news programming are often-cited origins of implicit associations.
A Few Key Characteristics of Implicit Biases
- Implicit biases are pervasive. Everyone possesses them, even people with avowed commitments to impartiality such as judges.
- Implicit and explicit biases are related but distinct mental constructs. They are not mutually exclusive and may even reinforce each other.
- The implicit associations we hold do not necessarily align with our declared beliefs or even reflect stances we would explicitly endorse.
- We generally tend to hold implicit biases that favor our own ingroup, though research has shown that we can still hold implicit biases against our ingroup.
- Implicit biases are malleable. Our brains are incredibly complex, and the implicit associations that we have formed can be gradually unlearned through a variety of debiasing techniques.
Thoughts on Neighbors & Good Samaritans
It’s
good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget
for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a
little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers. — Maya Angelou
On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s
roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to
see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and
women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their
journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin
to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that
an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. ― Martin Luther King Jr.
… and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near
neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side… — Quran 4:36 (excerpt)
To be truly good means more than not robbing people …To be truly good
means more than being righteously religious …To be truly good means
being a good neighbor … And to be a good neighbor means recognizing
that there are ultimately no strangers … Everybody is my neighbor! …
Everybody is my brother! … We’re all connected. ― Brian McLaren
Like the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of
those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete acts of love. — Pope Francis
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. — Rumi
The Prophet, , said: “By the One in whose Hands my soul is, no slave of
Allah has true faith unless he likes for his neighbor what he likes for
himself.” — IslamicHadith
When we love and make loving commitments, we create families and
communities within which people can grow and take risks, knowing that
hands will be there to catch them should they fall.— Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Good and kind people outnumber all others by thousands to one. The
tragedy of human history lies in the enormous potential for destruction
in rare acts of evil, not in the high frequency of evil people. Complex
systems can only be built step by step, whereas destruction requires but
an instant. Thus, in what I like to call the Great Asymmetry, every
spectacular incident of evil will be balanced by 10,000 acts of
kindness, too often unnoted and invisible as the ”ordinary” efforts of a
vast majority. We have a duty, almost a holy responsibility, to record
and honor the victorious weight of these innumerable little kindnesses,
when an unprecedented act of evil so threatens to distort our perception
of ordinary human behavior — Stephen Gould
So by all means let us name evil for what it is, let’s root out the sin
and racism within us, let us fight for justice, but then let us turn the
cameras toward the light, lest we become so consumed by the effects of
evil that we miss the chance to be kind to a stranger, and we miss the
chance to stop and read to our kids and we miss the chance to notice how
acts of beauty and kindness out number acts of evil by the thousands,
because in so doing we hand evil a bigger victory than it earned when in
fact it has already lost. See, in the same 24 hour news cycle that only
can speak of evil –
- babies were born
- and people feel in love
- and someone put an old lady’s shopping cart back for her
- and caseroles were bright to the home-bound
- and prayers were said
- and little girls made brand new friends
- and someone paid for the coffe of the person behind them in line
- and flowers were brought to the Dallas police department
- and children made perfectly mis-spelled protest signs
- and people made up
- and someone in the coffee shop let me hold their baby because they could tell I needed it
- and when … car broke down in the middle of nowhere during his vacation, someone came along at just the right moment and towed it 126 miles …
and Every second of every day our God arrives unannounced in the merciful and loving kindness of other people … — Nadia Bolz-Weber
A prospective convert to Judaism asked Rabbi Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one leg. Hillel replied: “That which is hateful unto you do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah, the rest is commentary. Go forth and study.” — Robert Avrech
Poem posted by ‘onlylovepoetry’ on hellopoetry.com:
I inquired of the holy dark where god hides
why my existence was just one unending question?
… could hear Him smile and communicate:
if not You, then who?
… love thy neighbor as thyself
… then, smiling, god extended his only finger, touching each of mine eyelids:
sleep, friend for we need your questioning dreams,
your faith unfurled unfulfilled
for in your unending inquiry
is all of our “in the beginning,”
the holy dark
Commentary on Good Samaritan Story
Locating our … inclinations … from the perspective of the different
characters can be one … way to go — the priest, the Levite, the guy
left in the ditch, the Samaritan, the innkeeper. We all want to be the
Samaritan, but truth be told, we aren’t — at least, not all of the
time. And, every once in a while, it does our faith good to stand in the
shoes of the people whom we do not want to be (or hope we are not). — Karoline Lewis
Deep wounds are not easily healed. But the Good Samaritan poured oil and
wine into the wounds of the stranger who lay helpless on the road to
Jericho, and set him on the road to recovery. Each one of us can go and
do likewise. ― John LaFarge
We have to go through life behaving as if we love each other. We can
behave ourselves into love. This training of love for the world can
start small. We might not start out by stopping for every stranger in
need that we see or giving away all of our money and possessions or
moving to the streets in solidarity with the homeless. We can start
where we are. We can help out even when we don’t have to. We can stop
keeping track of who has done what to wrong us or who is taking
advantage of the system. Instead of keeping track of our losses, we can
keep track of gratitude. We can share with people who haven’t had the
lucky breaks that we have had. It’s not enough, however, to love the
people who are easy to love. It’s much harder to love those who are have
behaved in horrible ways. But we must love them too. In fact, it might
be the more important task. — Kristen Berkey-Abbott
What does the Good Samaritan do? Three things, I’d suggest. First, he sees
the man in need, when he was invisible to the priest and Levite who
passed him by. Actually, they did see him, and then promptly ignored
him. They saw him, but not as a neighbor, perceiving him instead to be a
burden, and perhaps even a threat. … Second, the Samaritan not only
sees the man in need as a neighbor, but he draws near to him,
coming over to help. The other two gave this man in need a wide berth,
creating even more distance between them. But the Samaritan instead goes
to him, and becomes vulnerable in that closeness. Vulnerable should it
indeed be a trap, but even more so, vulnerable in opening himself to see
his pain, misery, and need. … Third, after seeing him and coming close,
the Samaritan has compassion on him, tending his wounds,
transporting him to the inn, making sure he is taken care of. Seeing is
vital, drawing near imperative, yet the final and meaningful gesture is
that the Samaritan actually does something about it.
Compassion, in this sense, is sympathy put into action. And these three
inter-related moves – seeing, drawing near, and having compassion –
offer us an example of what it is to be Christ-like … — David Lose
And so Jesus brings this home by choosing the most unlikely of
characters to serve as the instrument of God’s mercy and grace and
exemplify Christ-like behavior. That’s what God does: God chooses people
no one expects and does amazing things through them. Even a Samaritan.
Even our people. Even me. Even you. — David Lose
Instead, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, the point of which
seems to be that your neighbor is to be construed as meaning anybody who
needs you. The lawyer’s response is left unrecorded. — Frederick Beuchner
It seems to me, contrary to our culture that is obsessed with all things
“spectacular”, that it is when we are engaged in the most mundane
activities that we make the most difference in another person’s life.
When you get right down to it, that’s the only place we can really make
much of a difference in the life of another human being. We mortals
rarely achieve the level of influence that can truly make a difference
for hundreds or thousands of people out there. For the most part, we
have the opportunity to touch a life here, a life there. It is through
the quality of our character, not anything “spectacular” that we may do,
that we make a difference in another life. It is through the way in
which we conduct our relationships, not through any great “achievement,”
that we really have an effect on another human being. — Alan Brehm
This is a strange time for acting as actual neighbors. But that doesn’t
change the point of the parable. It cuts through all our excuses about
our customary practice, our usual public statements, and asks if we are
doing mercy. Or not. — Richard Swanson
Meditations on bearing each other’s burdens: themes from Galatians 6
| Have you heard the phrase, “Share the load?” This week’s themes from Galatians reflect being in community by recognizing each other’s challenges and issues, and finding ways to work on them together. Link to scripture: Galatians 6: 1-10. — Rev Gail |
You live in me; I live in you. — Richard Rohr
Questions to consider:
- Whose burdens do you already help to share?
- When do you feel overwhelmed by serving and giving of yourself, and do you take time for self-care?
- What does self-care look like for you?
- How is your community part of your self-care?
- Do you feel responsible to solve all of the problems about which you are aware, or can you prioritize, and give your time and energy to specific concerns or causes that kindle a passion in you?
- Who has helped you to carry a burden?
Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Initially our loyalties were to ourselves and our immediate family, next, to bands of wandering hunter-gatherers, then to tribes, small settlements, city-states, nations. We have broadened the circle of those we love. We have now organized what are modestly described as super-powers, which include groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together — surely a humanizing and character building experience. If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth. Many of those who run the nations will find this idea unpleasant. They will fear the loss of power. We will hear much about treason and disloyalty. Rich nation-states will have to share their wealth with poor ones. But the choice, as H. G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing. ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Call Me by My True Names (excerpt)
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Call me by my true names
because even today I still arrive.
Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
… My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom
in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so full it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.
Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. — John Wesley
Love is the bridge between you and everything. — Rumi
Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious. ― Ruth Reichl
When we fully understand the brevity of life, its fleeting joys and unavoidable pains; when we accept the facts that all men and women are approaching an inevitable doom: the consciousness of it should make us more kindly and considerate of each other. This feeling should make men and women use their best efforts to help their fellow travelers on the road, to make the path brighter and easier as we journey on. It should bring a closer kinship, a better understanding, and a deeper sympathy for the wayfarers who must live a common life and die a common death. ― Clarence Darrow
Judaism … For us, faith is the redemption of solitude. It is about relationships – between us and God, us and our family, us and our neighbours, us and our people, us and humankind. Judaism is not about the lonely soul. It is about the bonds that bind us to one another and to the Author of all. It is, in the highest sense, about friendship. — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
As we continue our earthly journey, if we learn to bear each other’s burdens and to exchange the rich patrimony of our respective traditions, we will see more clearly that what unites us is greater than what divides us. — Pope Francis
I know that part of the mixed blessing of getting older is that you have lost somebody. You’ve lost more than one person maybe and you get that message that life is really short and to be here for it. And second of all, you’re seeing people who were given such an excruciating burden to bear and they did it, and they did it with a lot of support, and they did it one day at a time, and they did it against all odds and they came through. And there are certain losses you never get over, of course, but they’re not broken bones anymore. There are things that are going to make you limp for the rest of your life, but they’re weight bearing again. And when you’ve seen that up close, when you’ve seen people come through, it just changes everything you know about life. — Anne Lamott
He [author of Galatians] speaks to the plural, the Us of the community. A community which does not give up to self-indulgence reaps a good harvest. That community cannot depend on the efforts of a few; the community as a whole needs to use its freedom well. — Andrew Prior
And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. And I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. […] and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren’t moving wrong when we do it, because … God is love. — Martin Luther King
What I love about the ministry of Jesus is that he identified the poor as blessed and the rich as needy … and then he went and ministered to them both. This, I think, is the difference between charity and justice. Justice means moving beyond the dichotomy between those who need and those who supply and confronting the frightening and beautiful reality that we desperately need one another. ― Rachel Held Evans
When we do good for someone else a strange thing happens. We help someone thinking we are doing something for them, but in the practice of it we find that we are the one who is blessed. When we extend our heart to someone else, it is our heart that is filled. — Church for All People
Now human beings can begin to revel in what is meant by growing to full stature as a responsible and participative spiritual adult whose work on the planet really, really matters. Life, suddenly, is more a blessing both to the universe and to the self than it is simply a test of a person’s moral limits. To be alive, to be a person in the process of becoming, it becomes clear, is a blessing, not a bane. We are, alone and together, significant actors in the nature of life and the strengthening of the fibers of humankind. — Joan Chittister
You (and every other created thing) begin with your unique divine DNA, an inner destiny as it were, an absolute core that knows the truth about you, a true believer tucked away in the cellar of your being, an imago Dei that begs to be allowed, to be fulfilled, and to show itself. … This is your True Self. Historically, it was often called “the soul.” … Every Sacrament, every Bible story, every church service, every sermon, every hymn, every bit of priesthood, ministry, or liturgy is for one purpose: to allow you to experience your True Self—who you are in God and who God is in you—and to live a generous life from that Infinite Source. — Richard Rohr
I think we would have to agree that there is something built into the very nature of a life of sacrificial love, a life of bearing one another’s burdens, a life of loving your neighbor as yourself that is “wearying.” You give and give and give some more, and never really know if any of what you’re giving is doing any good at all! But Paul recommends that we take a longer look when we find ourselves getting discouraged. We need to look at things from a broader perspective when we feel that our work is insignificant. In a very real sense, our “bigger” perspective of the vastness of the universe and our place in it needs the “broader” perspective of the Kingdom of God that continues to grow and produce fruit until the final harvest day. — Alan Brehm
Emptiness and compassion go hand in hand. Compassion as transaction—me over here, being compassionate to you over there—is simply too clunky and difficult. If I am going to be responsible to receive your suffering and do something about it, and if I am going to make this kind of compassion the cornerstone of my religious life, I will soon be exhausted. But if I see the boundarylessness of me and you, and recognize that my suffering and your suffering are one suffering, and that that suffering is empty of any separation, weightiness, or ultimate tragedy, then I can do it. I can be boundlessly compassionate and loving, without limit. To be sure, living this teaching takes time and effort, and maybe we never entirely arrive at it. But it’s a joyful, heartfelt path worth treading. — Thich Nhat Hanh
The Bridge
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I stood on the bridge at midnight,
As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose o’er the city,
Behind the dark church-tower.
I saw her bright reflection
In the waters under me,
Like a golden goblet falling
And sinking into the sea.
And far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night in June,
The blaze of the flaming furnace
Gleamed redder than the moon.
Among the long, black rafters
The wavering shadows lay,
And the current that came from the ocean
Seemed to lift and bear them away;
As, sweeping and eddying through them,
Rose the belated tide,
And, streaming into the moonlight,
The seaweed floated wide.
And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A flood of thoughts came o’er me
That filled my eyes with tears.
How often, O, how often,
In the days that had gone by,
I had stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky!
How often, O, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide
Would bear me away on its bosom
O’er the ocean wild and wide!
For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me
Seemed greater than I could bear.
But now it has fallen from me,
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws its shadow over me.
Yet whenever I cross the river
On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odor of brine from the ocean
Comes the thought of other years.
And I think how many thousands
Of care-encumbered men,
Each bearing his burden of sorrow,
Have crossed the bridge since then.
I see the long procession
Still passing to and fro,
The young heart hot and restless,
And the old subdued and slow!
And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;
The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.
Where Will I Find You
— Yehudah Halevi,
translated by Peter Cole
Where, Lord, will I find you:
your place is high and obscured.
And where won’t I find you:
your glory fills the world.
You dwell deep within—
you’ve fixed the ends of creation.
You stand, a tower for the near,
refuge to those far off.
You’ve lain above the Ark, here,
yet live in the highest heavens.
Exalted among your hosts,
although beyond their hymns—
no heavenly sphere could ever contain you,
let alone a chamber within.
In being borne above them
on an exalted throne,
you are closer to them
than their breath and skin.
Their mouths bear witness for them,
that you alone gave them form.
Your kingdom’s burden is theirs;
who wouldn’t fear you?
And who could fail to search for you—
who sends down food when it is due?
I sought your nearness.
With all my heart I called you.
And in my going out to meet you,
I found you coming toward me,
as in the wonders of your might
and holy works I saw you.
Who would say he hasn’t seen
your glory as the heavens’
hordes declare their awe of you
without a sound being heard?
But could the Lord, in truth,
dwell in men on earth?
How would men you made from the dust and clay
fathom your presence there,
enthroned upon their praise?
The creatures hovering over the world
praise your wonders—
your throne borne high above their heads,
as you bear all forever.
Reflections on peace, freedom and serving others: Independence Day weekend and themes from Galatians.
Lessons from last week’s Peace & empowerment Camp! Combined with themes for Independence Day week and text from Galatians.
ALOHA
Aloha means hello, goodbye, welcome, and love. Each of these aspects of aloha are shown through people and nature. When you use aloha you are not only sending someone off. Aloha means “I wish you the best,” and “Take love with you.” Aloha is a blessing of love and belonging.
Reflections on Aloha:
- If you could draw or imagine “peace” as a place you carry inside you,
like a home inside your heart, how would you draw it or describe it? - When has someone especially welcomed you? Tell that story.
- When have you made someone else feel welcome? Write about it.
Reflections on Aloha
What do different traditions say about ‘welcome’?
The Buddhist nun Pema Chodron writes, “The only reason we don’t open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don’t feel brave enough … to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else’s eyes.”
In Christianity, the Gospel of Matthew suggests that whenever we offer welcome and kindness to someone else, we are also offering kindness and compassion to Godself. “‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”
Rabbi Dianne Cohler Esses writes, “Hospitality is a powerful way to model kindness. Opening one’s home to others is a way for people to share with one another the uniqueness of who they are and the blessings they have. Abraham … though he is in the midst of a conversation with God, he surprisingly interrupts it to welcome three strangers he sees from afar. He begs them to stay awhile and have a morsel of bread and some water. Meanwhile, he and Sarah prepare a sumptuous meal for them. Abraham promises little but delivers much. He is a humble yet generous host. Being humble and grateful for your blessings can make a guest feel comfortable in your home. Helping someone feel at home can go a long way toward forming and deepening friendships.”
Rumi, the mystic Muslim poet, writes, “This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice: meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
The Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, says, “What you have taken, has been from here. What you gave has been given here. What belongs to you today, belonged to someone yesterday, and will be someone else’s tomorrow.” It also states, “The man who sees me in everything and everything within me will not be lost to me, nor will I ever be lost to him. He who is rooted in oneness realizes that I am in every being; wherever he goes, he remains in me.”
SHALOM
Shalom is a Hebrew word said as “hello” or “goodbye.” Shalom also means peace. In many ways, saying shalom means peace in all three settings, and what a beautiful way to say hello or goodbye —offering to the other person peace.
Reflections on Shalom
One Jewish educational resource states, “The ancient Hebrew concept of peace, rooted in the word shalom, meant wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety and prosperity, carrying with it the implication of permanence … Rabbi Robert Kahn of Houston, TX, capsulizes the distinctives of ‘Roman’ peace and ‘Hebrew’ shalom:
- One can dictate a peace; shalom is a mutual agreement.
- “Peace is a temporary pact; shalom is a permanent agreement.
- “One can make a peace treaty; shalom is the condition of peace.
- “Peace can be negative, the absence of commotion.
Shalom is positive, the presence of serenity. - “Peace can be partial; shalom is whole.
- “Peace can be piecemeal; shalom is complete.”
It continues, “Peace is a positive thing, the essential means by which … differing temperaments and opinions can work together for the common good. Pearls of individual virtue would be dim in isolation were it not for the string of peace that binds them together and so increases their luster. That is why peace is a name of God for it is He who gives unity to the whole of creation.”
In John 14:27, we hear a Gospel viewpoint, “Shalom I leave with you. My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.”
Vietnamese Buddhist priest and founder of ‘engaged Buddhism’ Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.”
Questions about Shalom
- Is your peace rooted inside your heart and soul, or dictated by external relationships and conditions?
- When do you feel most whole or complete in your life, in the world, in your relationships?
- What helps you regain balance and feel more whole?
| UBUNTU Ubuntu’s most attributed meaning in the Zulu language, as used in South Africa, is “I am because we are.” It focuses on communal relations. Reflections on Ubuntu: One Native American poet, Paula Gunn Allen, wrote about the inter-connectedness of humanity and creation. She said, “Snowflakes, leaves, humans, plants, raindrops, stars, molecules, microscopic entities all come in communities. The singular cannot in reality exist.” A former president of the USA observed, “There is a word in South Africa – ubuntu – that describes … recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.” Christian practice and teachings emphasizes holistic connection to other people. In Matthew 22: 39b, Christ says, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Loving your neighbor doesn’t just mean having respect and compassion for the person who lives next door, but other people, too … as the adage goes, ‘Strangers are just friends I haven’t met yet.” Bishop Desmond Tutu, who worked for peace and reconciliation in South Africa, writes, “Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world.” Anti-Apartheid activist and president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela said, “In Africa there is a concept known as ubuntu – the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others.” One Jewish teacher noted, when reflecting on ubuntu, “Hillel, the Jewish sage, is frequently quoted as having said: “If I am not for myself, who will be? But if I am only or myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” Vietnamese Buddhist priest Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “We look deeply and we see that father and son, father and daughter, mother and son, mother and daughter, corn seed and cornstalk, have a very close relationship. … we inter-are. … we and all living beings are made of the same nature, how can there be division between us? … look deeply into the nature of things … inter-being. We find peace and can generate the strength we need to be in touch with everything. With this understanding, we can easily sustain the work of loving and caring for the Earth and for each other for a long time.” Questions about ubuntu: What artists, writers, coaches, teachers or other people have influenced you?If you could meet one person from another time, who has affected your life, who would you choose to meet and why?What is a gift, talent, strength or blessing that you offer to your ‘circles of belonging’ such as your family, team, class, club, school, faith community, or other groups?How many different groups or communities or teams can you name to which you belong?How does each of these ‘circles of belonging’ shape who you are? HEIWA The Japanese use the kanji characters 平和. Kanji is the original Chinese characters and the first 平 (hei) means flat, or smooth, and 和 (wa) means harmony. Having smoothness and harmony describes the state of being a peaceful society, so that is probably the reason for the origin of the word. In China they write it 和平 (“hebin” pronounced and sounding more like ‘her-bin’ ). As you can see, the characters are just reversed so it would mean harmonious and smooth—the same. Reflections on Heiwa Considering the connection between inner peace and outer peace, here are some thoughts about heiwa from different perspectives and spiritual traditions. A Peace Bell in the Peace Park in Hiroshima was given to Japan as a gift from the Greek Consulate. The bell includes an ancient Greek phrase along with its translation in Japanese and Sanskrit. The inscription says “ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΑΥΤΟΝ,” which means “Know thyself.” The quotation comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. This quotation, placed on the Peace Bell, prompts people to consider inner peace — knowing oneself — as a connection to outward and worldly peace. In music theory, harmony is a combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes made to produce chords and chord progressions that have a pleasing effect. In the letter to Colossians, Paul writes to the community, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Later in that same letter, he adds, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” In another letter, to the Romans, he writes, “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” The mystic Muslim poet Rumi wrote, “The life of this world is nothing but the harmony of opposites.” In Thich Nhat Hanh’s Buddhist settlement, Plum Village: “Poetic couplets … are an ancient tradition in the East … a reminder to practice mindfulness. The couplet can be combined with our breathing. For example, we can contemplate “Harmony in our Home” as we breathe in, and contemplate “Joy in the World” as we breathe out.” Questions about Heiwa Who do you know who models harmony or ‘inner peace’? What can you learn from that person? Who do you know who is a peace-worker in your community? What can you learn from that person? |
| SI SE PUEDE The “official” translation for sí se puede® is “Yes, it can be done.” Or “yes, it’s possible!” The phrase was coined by Cesar Chavez and his partner, Dolores Huerta, during the 1972 25-day fast. It echoes the struggle of working-class Latinos who were fighting for fair labor conditions in the 1970s and has been used more recently at immigration reform marches. Reflections on Si Se Puede Spiritual practices help us choose why we engage the world and work to make it better. Below are some different ways that spiritual traditions reinforce or echo the social justice movement inspired by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. The mystic poet Rumi reminds us, ““The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.” Tikkun Olam is a Jewish concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world. The phrase is found in the Mishnah, a body of classical rabbinic teachings. It signifies issues of social policy that safeguard those who may be at a disadvantage in the community. In contemporary times, tikkun olam also means social action and the pursuit of social justice. Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh wrote this poem: Interrelationship. “You are me, and I am you. Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”? You cultivate the flower in yourself, so that I will be beautiful. I transform the garbage in myself, so that you will not have to suffer. I support you; you support me. I am in this world to offer you peace; you are in this world to bring me joy.” Change is possible because we are all connected! In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ challenges his followers to think big and use their imaginations. He says, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” He expects people to be partners with their Creator to make the world better for other people and all of Creation: to live, pray, play, work, and serve in ways that help and heal. Black Elk, an Oglala Siuox holy man, describes how people are connected to the world and each other. “The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit) and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is thart which is made between two nations,. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have ofren said, is within the souls of men.” Questions about Si Se Puede: What do you consider to be peace work? What issues in our community might contribute to social and political peace? What seems impossible now, that you believe might become possible? |
Work Day with Neighbor to Neighbor
Wed, June 12 • Eaton / All Day
The Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) program, an initiative of Nativity Lutheran, seeks to help valley residents make their houses safe, warm, and dry. If you are able to volunteer on June 12 (starting at 9:00 on likely continuing for much of the day), we are scheduling a work day in the northern part of Eaton.
- RSVP to Rev Nathan Hall from Nativity Lutheran Church if interested. He will send out further details to those who volunteer.
This particular project will involve 2 parts:
- We will be reglazing some windows.
- We will be attempting to locate and fix a leak in a metal roof. The roof itself should be good, but it does need to be tacked down. It is also possible that torn nail holes may need to be plugged and flashing may need to be amended. This part of the job will be part diagnostic and part labor.
We will need some skilled people, but a few novices are also welcome.
Meditations on water: themes from Revelation 22
Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters. — C. S. Lewis
Turning on the Water
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Water comes from high mountain sources.
Water runs deep in the Earth.
Miraculously, water comes to us and sustains all life.
My gratitude is filled to the brim.
Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does. ― Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
Thirsting for Water
Thousands have lived without love, not one without water. — W.H. Auden
Water is important to people who do not have it, and the same is true of control. ― Joan Didion
It is not merely our own desire but the desire of Christ in His Spirit
that drives us to grow in love. Those who seldom or never feel in their
hearts the desire for the love of God and other men, and who do not
thirst for the pure waters of desire which are poured out in us by the
strong, living God, are usually those who have drunk from other rivers
or have dug for themselves broken cisterns. ― Thomas Merton
Water may be extremely dirty, yet its nature remains clear. ― Dalai Lama XIV, How to Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships
Not only the thirsty seek the water, the water as well seeks the thirsty. ― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
Gerald May, a dear and now deceased friend of mine, said in his very wise book Addiction and Grace
that addiction uses up our spiritual desire. It drains away our deepest
and true desire, that inner flow and life force which makes us “long
and pant for running streams” (Psalm 42). Spiritual desire is the drive
that God put in us from the beginning, for total satisfaction, for home,
for heaven, for divine union, and it just got displaced onto the wrong
object. It has been a frequent experience of mine to find that many
people in recovery often have a unique and very acute spiritual sense;
more than most people, I would say. It just got frustrated early and
aimed in a wrong direction. Wild need and desire took off before
boundaries, strong identity, impulse control, and deep God experience
were in place. ― Richard Rohr, Breathing Underwater
Immersing in Water
Breathing in, I see myself as still water. Breathing out, I reflect things as they are. — Thich Nhat Hanh
In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one
aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence. ― Kahlil Gibran Jr.
The roots of all living things are tied together. Deep in the ground of
being, they tangle and embrace. This understanding is expressed in the
term nonduality. If we look deeply, we find that we do not have a
separate self-identity, a self that does not include sun and wind, earth
and water, creatures and plants, and one another. — Joan Halifax
If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. — C. S. Lewis Sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking. ― Anne Lamott
The water and words from our baptism plus the earth and words from our funerals have come from the past and future to meet us in the present. And in that meeting we are reminded of the promises of God: That we are God’s, that there is no sin, no darkness, and yes, no grave that God will not come to find us in and love us back to life. ― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People
Sometimes in order to help He makes us cry, Happy the eye that sheds tears for His sake, Fortunate the heart that burns for His sake, Laughter always follow tears, Blessed are those who understand, Life blossoms wherever water flows, Where tears are shed divine mercy is shown. — Rumi
More About Water
Water Justice
Water is the most critical resouedce on earth because it is biologically necessary and non-substitutable.We need water to hydrate and survive as none of us can live without water. While 70% of earth is covered inwater, only 2.5% of the earth’s water is freshwater. That small amount of freshwater us used for a variety of needs: mostly agricultural, then industry, and lastly municipal and domestic use. There are thus numerous competing demands over available water, a resource that is jeenly contest and fought over … Clean, safe water is vitally important as it can affect everyone’s ability to live a full and healthy life, engage in social progress, and have ecological sustainability. Indeed, one of the Sustainable Deevelopment Goals for global development is dedicated to water, setting the ambitious goal of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water by the year 2030. — Farhana Sultana, Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it
Carry — Billy Collins
I want to carry you
and for you to carry me
the way voices are said to carry over water.
Just this morning on the shore,
I could hear two people talking quietly
in a rowboat on the far side of the lake.
They were talking about fishing,
then one changed the subject,
and, I swear, they began talking about you.
I
thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets full of lichens and seeds. I
slept as never before, a stone on the river bed, nothing between me and
the white fire of the stars but my thoughts, and they floated light as
moths among the branches of the perfect trees. All night I heard the
small kingdoms breathing around me, the insects, and the birds who do
their work in the darkness. All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning I had vanished at least a
dozen times into something better. — Mary Oliver
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The
river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the
basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the
rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by
waters. ― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through it and Other Stories
“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such
thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the
source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current,
in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only
exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha