General

Tell me what you want

Many centuries ago in the Middle East, a man in simple garb walked the streets as the shining light and staff for all those who yearned to be true human beings.

One day, a woman condemned by the society as a harlot and thus treated with the utmost disrespect came to the end of her road. She could no longer go on living as a pariah and saw in this great man, whom they called “Master,” her only hope for a better existence.

She stood for hours, struggling through the crowd without success to get closer to the Master as He addressed the multitude, so she waited until the crowd dispersed. As He turned to leave, she ran towards His direction and  called out to Him. She was speechless when she stood before Him and bowed her head as she could not bear the Light that emanated from the Master’s face.

“You wish to speak to me? Tell me what you want, the Master said.”

She lost her shyness and said in a weary voice: “See how they all despise me, Master! I cannot speak in their presence. Indeed they make it impossible for me to lead a different life again. They always remind me of my sin, and shun me wherever they see me. They take their children away when I walk in the street, and threaten to stone me.”

The Master said nothing, He walked quietly on, and the woman remained by His side without any objection from Him. He left the town, and still the woman walked by the side of the Master. And hours went by.

Then the Master halted. “What do you hope for from me, that you do not go home?”

“A word of advice, Sir.”

“When I asked what you wanted you made accusations! You had nothing but complaints and lamentations. That is why I could not help you. Now I will give you advice. Go to another country and begin the new life for which you long. Work from morning till night in order to forget the past. You are young, and can still make up for all that you have neglected.”

…….

Daily, hourly, creation says the same to us, “Tell me what you want.” We respond by the nature of our innermost thoughts, words, and deeds. Help cannot reach the man who whines and complains, it simply finds no connection. It however unfailingly reaches him who makes the effort to seek humbly and live honorably, often times coming when least expected.

Videos

John Wooden Teaches

Success! What does this word mean to you? Former University of California teacher and basketball coach, John Wooden, shares his definition of Success.

Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.

Relationships

Above All, There is Love

Zainab’s mother was abandoned by her family for marrying below her status only to later discover that the man she gave up her family for would himself abandon her. His ever growing frustration with the very high levels of unemployment in early 1980s Turkey led to his affair with alcoholism, which subsequently derailed their marriage.

As the sole provider for her two girls, Meryem had to leave the only place she called home in order to put food on the table and send her daughters to school. She worked as a janitor in West Germany for ten years, indifferent to the cold-heartedness of her German neighbors who were threatened by the flood of Turkish workers inhabiting their city. She slept on the street with her daughters on few occasions when she was unable to gather enough money to pay for their accommodation.

Despite the difficulties, Meryem made every sacrifice to ensure Zainab and her sister, Zehru did not lack the essentials for their education. Many years later, Zainab who became a successful author, asked her mother about one particular incident. This event was so clear in Zainab’s memory, it had such an impact on her because it was the only time she ever saw her invincible mother cry.

It was a cold February evening in their second year in West Germany, Zainab was seven years old. Meryem paced around a popular street corner with her girls asking for spare change from passers-by when a  young German woman with compassionate green eyes approached them. She took off her coat and wrapped it around the shivering Meryem. Seeing the hungry faces of the little girls, she emptied her purse of all the cash in her possession. She embraced Meryem warmly, waved to the girls and continued on towards her destination.

“Mother”, Zainab asked, “you have been through so much hardship without once outwardly showing any sign of defeat, why did you break down in tears after that kind woman embraced you and placed her coat around you?”

“It was because of her LOVE my dear,” responded Meryem,  “You can steel your heart against any type of trouble, any kind of horror. But a simple act of kindness from a complete stranger will unstitch you.*”

* Quote by Chris Abani

Relationships

The Three Sieves of Speech

The annual August road trip from Maryland to South Carolina had become a tradition in the Baker household. Grandma was always thrilled to see her ever growing grandchildren, Paul and Tessa. Their parents, John and Maureen, both grew up near Greenville, SC before moving to Maryland for college some twenty years back.

Camping, fishing, golfing and storytelling were always on the agenda during their one week stay with their vivacious eighty six year old grandmother. They all especially enjoyed sitting at her feet after dinner listening to new stories she had written within the past year of their last visit. “Tell us a story about serenity, calmness ” Maureen requested.

“Uhmm … serenity,” Grandma closed her eyes briefly as if thinking of an appropriate story and then began…

Plato

 One day, the old wise Socrates walks down the streets, when all of a sudden a man runs up to him “Socrates I have to tell you something about your friend who…”

“Hold up” Socrates interrupts him “About the story you are about to tell me, did you put it through the three sieves?”

“Three sieves?” The man asks “What three sieves?”

“Let’s try it” Socrates says.

“The first sieve is the one of truth, did you examine what you were about to tell me if it is true?” Socrates asks.

“Well no, I just overheard it” The man says.

“Ah, well then you have used the second sieve, the sieve of good?” Socrates asks “Is it something good what you are about to tell me?”

“Ehm no, on the contrary” the man answers.

“Hmmm” The wise man says “Let’s use the third sieve then, is it necessary to tell me what you are so excited about?” 

“No not necessary” the man says.

“Well” Socrates says with a smile “If the story you are about to tell me is not true, good or necessary, just forget it and do not bother me with it.” *

Imagine how much trouble and headache can be avoided by speaking only what is good, true and necessary. Serenity, calmness of mind, is the result of continued effort in self control and humility. Only when a man ceases to give his unrequested opinion on every subject but rather speaks only when, where and how it is necessary can he begin to call humility his own. The gift of speech becomes a curse and leads to unrest when its power is lent to gossip, slander and unnecessary chatter. Patiently observe the effect of your words on your being, only then does the greatness of the story become  undoubtedly evident.

 * Source- Unknown

General

A Good Man?

ancestor“My only request for my memorial service is that it should be short; do not mention any of my accomplishments or say that I was a good man, simply say that I was a man who strove to be good.” Prasanna Patel said to his grand-daughter.

“But Papa, you are the best man I know. If you are not a good man, then there are no good men on earth.”

“Child, you can only tell if a man is good by the nature of his innermost thoughts, therefore in most cases only the man who can read the thoughts of another can call him good. Even a man who risks his life for another cannot be called a good man if his action was prompted by the desire to be seen as a hero. The incorrect use of the designation “good man” narrows the scope of fulfillment for what it means to be good so please promise me not to call me a good man after I am gone.” He pleaded.

General

A Questioning Child

In the early 1960’s, St. Jude’s Orphanage took care of the motherless children of Lome, Togo. The children had a strict academic regimen and were also fed spiritually through daily bible study  with Father Kuntz. One day Fr. Kuntz talked about the necessity of Christ’s suffering on the cross for the forgiveness of sin which terribly confused 10 year old Edem.

“How does the death of one pure man wipe out the sins of a thousand guilty men? How does that work?”

“Well Edem,” Fr. Kuntz responded.  “Imagine a son who does something so evil that he cannot atone for his actions himself. His father who loves him and sees his suffering sends one who is pure and strong to take on the suffering of this weak son who no longer has the power to overcome his guilt and find his way back to his father.”

“So Jesus was this pure One who was sent to take on the suffering by the most brutal death? What kind of father would send his son to suffer? I still do not understand Fr. Kuntz.”

“The Creator so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son all the way down to earth to show us misguided human beings the way back to Him and with His suffering on the Cross, He atoned for the sins of all who believe in Him.”

“I see, I think I understand better now, Edem interjected. Like you said, The Creator saw all the suffering in the world so He sent His pure Son to show us the way to a joyful existence. By telling us to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” He gave us the key to atoning for our guilt and righting the ship. Fr. Kuntz, could it be that it is through living in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and not His death on the cross that forgiveness of sins lie?  Could it be that His death was simply a consequence of man’s wickedness? I ask because I do not think It is the Will of The Creator, it lacks justice. Think about it Fr. Kuntz, how can sin be transferred from one person to another?”

Fr. Kuntz who simply imbibed this idea of a forgiveness of sin through the death on the cross without thoroughly examining it reflected on the 10 year old’s words. Jesus’ words on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” jumped out at him. Could these words buttress the fallacy of this idea of the necessity of His brutal death on the cross? He dismissed his students and went outside to reflect further on the subject.

 

 

General

Vigilance

Sergio Gomez moved to Reynosa, one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico, to complete his degree in philosophy. Despite the constant threat of danger in the area, Sergio remained indifferent and indolent; he took no measures to protect himself and his precious possessions.

One day, he left his house without locking his door and returned to a vandalized house. All his valuable items were stolen, the most valuable being his Mac laptop which contained 12 months’ worth of field data for his research project. All he had worked for, all he needed for his degree was on that laptop. His inability to protect what was most important led to his failure of the course because he could not make up the research project before the semester’s end. He had no choice but to repeat the course.

It would be unwise for a man who lives in a dangerous neighborhood to leave his door opened but we do the exact same thing when we take no steps to protect ourselves from the dark influences that surround the earth. It is clear to anyone with open eyes that the earth is surrounded predominantly by base and ignoble currents. Look to the media, government, corporations, schools, fashion, and society as a whole- where is there to be found anything leading the spirit upwards?

Many things which only a short time before would have aroused disgust are now regarded as quite natural, not even causing surprise. Like Sergio, our time on earth can be likened to a brief schooling period and in order to complete our development in the allotted time, the spirit has to be protected from these base currents through constant vigilance and an inward resistance to anything detrimental to spiritual ascent.

Prayer, Spirit

Immaculée’s Story

left-to-tell “I heard the killers call my name. A jolt of terror shot through me, why did they call out my name- how did they know I was here? Were they coming to the bathroom? … They were yelling at the pastor, accusing and threatening him. ‘Where is she?’ Find her… find Immaculée. ‘I have killed 399 cockroaches, Immaculée will make 400. It’s a good number to kill.'”*

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Immaculée and seven other women hid in a tiny bathroom (approximately four feet long and three feet wide). After seven weeks of extreme discomfort and very little food, Immaculée weighed only 75 pounds. A pretty, vibrant and intelligent 22 year old college student  was now anything but a pretty sight. She had not showered in all her time in the bathroom for fear that others in the Pastor’s household who were loyal to the Hutu militants would discover their hiding place. Her skin was pale, her lips were cracked and her gums were swollen.

The great intensity of the experience- concern for family members and fear of the brutality with which the Hutu militants killed women pushed everything superficial aside. Immaculée devoted herself to prayer and meditation during her time in the bathroom and despite her physical filth, she never felt more beautiful. Her spirit was wide open to the ray of Divine love and beauty which constantly surrounds us because she possessed two key requisites; purity of thought and humility.

Purity- In her first weeks of hiding, she hated the Hutu militants for their senseless and brutal actions but later realized that her prayers could not reach the throne of The Almighty Father with a heart full of hatred. She struggled for days in prayer for the strength to forgive these misguided men and was finally able to see them as foolish children who did not understand the terrible harm they were inflicting on themselves and others. She prayed that they recognize their horrific actions and are able to atone for them before their time on earth came to an end.

Humility- Drastic events such as genocides, tsunamis etc. often remind us of our smallness and even for just a moment our conceit and belief in our own pseudo-knowledge recedes. They say the wise man is one who knows that he knows nothing, why is this? Probably because he understands that he can receive no real knowledge without first emptying himself of all that he thinks he knows.

Only through her purity and humility was Immaculée’s able to receive of the Primordial Light of The Creator which instills inner calmness and confidence. She ended up spending 3 months in the bathroom before being rescued.

* Ilibagiza, Immaculée. Left to Tell. Hay House, 2006. Print

Relationships

Mothers Day Gift

little girls in open fieldPatricia took her four year old daughter, Audrey, to the park as she does every Saturday morning. Audrey excitedly ran towards the slides while Patricia sat on one of the park benches. She whipped out her phone to check her “to do list” for the day and realized that she is yet to get a Mothers Day gift for her mother.

Patricia went through a divorce in the past year and her mother was a great source of support for her especially during the initial stages of the divorce process. She wanted to show her appreciation by giving her mother a special gift this Mothers Day. She thought hard for ideas but nothing worthy surfaced. She turned towards Audrey, who was just then laughing with a playmate as they both ran around the field. “She looks so happy,” Patricia whispered pensively with a smile. In that moment Audrey had given her a special gift- the gift of a child’s happiness to its mother.

From this experience, she now knew what to get her mother. Hearing her children sing always brought her mother joy because it meant they were happy.  Patricia decided she would send her mother a video of herself and Audrey singing the “You are my Sunshine” song. Her mother sang this song to Patricia as a child and loved it whenever little Patricia sang along.

………..

What can a four year old give her mother on Mothers Day? What can one give The Creator to show gratitude for the gift of life? Simply to be happy. For what else can one give to HIM who has it all?