Another day, another dollar, and oh yes, another senseless shooting spree. My mind is a swirling mess of confusion and my heart is overflowing with grief for the insanity in Orlando this past week.
So, after the initial shock and weariness wears off, how do we move forward? We start within. Unconditional acceptance and appreciation is a vital part of wise and compassionate living; it is one of the most generous and loving gifts one can bring to the world, and the source of great peace.
After attending a peace vigil and memorial prayer service Monday night with my friend Rev. Kim Harvie, at the Unitarian Church in Brewster, MA, I thought about how often (lately) I have written and spoken out about nonviolence and radical acceptance and tolerance, in many forums and media as well as on different continents. Sometimes we sit, pray and even cry, and sometimes we march together. There’s simply no avoiding the messiness of it all.
Nonetheless, I firmly believe that we each must work on ourselves and learn mindful anger management and how to disarm our hearts. This is a life’s work and path that no one can do for us, but no one can impede either. As Thich Nhat Hanh sings, “It is my conviction that there is no way to peace – peace is the way.” Myself, I found that connecting to my source– what Buddhists call the groundless-ground of being and others may call a higher power– makes clear my purpose and place in the world, infuses warm feelings of connectedness, belonging, and interdependence, and gives genuine meaning and direction to my life. Then it doesn’t matter so much what I’m feeling or doing, or what is happening-for good or ill– ; for in the bigger picture, everything is a lawful unfolding: grace-full, blessed, a cause for gratitude, reverence and rejoicing–even life’s gritty and hard parts.
Often it takes crisis or loss to precipitate a spiritual opening, a renewed interest in looking inwards and seeking deeper rather than just going along in our normal way through life. I call this gaining through loss, the virtue of adversity, like the labor pains of a spiritual rebirth. The Pearl Principle: With no inner irritation, no pearl of wisdom gets produced within our hardened habitual carapace.
As we navigate our own inner path I ask you to join me in prayers for all who have ever been touched by violence, and consider rooting out any vestiges of hatred and violence, prejudice and intolerance in your own good heart, beautiful mind and gorgeous soul. As a longtime member of the religious life, I vote for the separation of church and hate!
