Kindness and Courage Matters

Photo by Molly

A person I saw today sleeping on the streets of Portland

Kindness and Courage Matters

Off and on through the day I am aware of this deep sadness in my heart. And I am conscious that I am far from alone. Even for those of us whose lives are so incredibly blessed, there is still much sorrow to carry.

Family members and dear friends are struggling with addictions, illness, loss, fear, trauma. There are mass shootings. Species are going extinct. Houseless human beings are living in tents or on our sidewalks. Genocide and endless wars and dislocations are happening. Our dangerously warming planet is pushing humans and other beings into smaller and smaller spaces. There is encroaching fascism and Christian nationalism and poisonous propaganda that lures us into disconnection and dehumanization and denial of suffering, that of others and our own. The list goes on and on. And — whether we know it or not, and because we are all interrelated — we all are experiencing the trauma that is impacting our sisters and brothers everywhere. And our Earth Mother.

And I am aware of this suffering wherever I am. That is why I carry granola bars and $1 bills and $5 bills that are easily reachable in my car. There is not a human being standing on any corner with their little sign that I am not grateful to reach with the money and food and, most of all, my heart and my eyes that communicate you matter, bless you. We all matter.

And as I walk through stores or in parking lots and pass people, I am always looking for eyes. Because whenever eyes meet, that is an opportunity to smile. And I reflect on the wise words of Thích Nhất Hạnh: "Everything we think, feel, and do has an effect on our ancestors and all future generations and reverberates throughout the Universe. Therefore, our smile helps everyone."

Sure, many of us put on smiles on Facebook and share sweet moments that are genuine and beautiful and precious. And there is always also the larger picture that no one's life is just rosy. Not one of us. We all have our struggles. We all have beloved friends and/or family members who are really struggling and hurting. This is our human reality, this is our deeper human truth.

* * * * *

As we grow older, what we do with the personal and collective sorrows that we carry in our hearts matters more and more. As one of my longtime teachers, Michael Meade, once said, "Everyone grows into 'olders.' But not everyone grows into Elders." This is so true.

And our world hungers for wise Elders, courageous truth-tellers, relentless peace seekers, artists and authors and visionaries who remind us of beauty and love, and strong voices and actions that refuse to stop working to heal ourselves and life on our beautiful hurting Earth.

These times, I believe, ask of us to do the hard ongoing work of strengthening our hearts, of not throwing in the towel despite all appearances that we may be doomed, and that we individually and collectively take responsibility for doing our part to shine light on dark places — and, very importantly, while remembering beauty and kindness and love — and act out of the consciousness of the highest good for us all.

Kindness matters. Deeply. As does courage and support and connecting with that which sustains and strengthens us. We truly need each other. And those of us who are blessed with sobriety, with awakening and expanding hearts, with beloveds who we can align and act together with, and with the courage to know, to truly know the truth of the suffering all around us — we are the ones who can and who must take on this responsibility to do our part in alleviating the suffering of our fellow humans and other living beings. 

This is the responsibility to care for one another, to refuse to return hatred with hatred, to refuse to be silent and complicit. We can seek the support we need to grow our hearts stronger and deepen our spiritual practices. This is the path of heart that empowers us to be accountable for addressing and healing and transforming trauma — the trauma of witnessing the pain in our families, in our communities, in houseless people on our streets and refugees at our borders, in the horrors of the genocide of Palestinians and the ever accelerating climate crisis, and in the atrocities of endless wars and a broken political system entrenched in imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy (bell hooks words).

It is my belief that the strong sacred heart energy in us all is what will awaken and heal our world. And this is our challenge isn't it? To undefend our hearts rather than fortify them. To commit to strengthening our hearts rather than succumb to allowing ourselves to grow brittle and bitter, angry and afraid, addicted and numb, and disconnected from ourselves and the lives we share this beautiful planet with.

There is no one path to help us to not lose ourselves in the midst of so much heartbreak. All that I know is that kindness and courage matters. And beauty and love and living as wholeheartedly as we can. This is the strongest medicine. And may this be the medicine that we increasingly bring to ourselves, to our loved ones, and how it is that we live our lives. May our circle of caring grow and grow. And may we know the beauty of our true nature and how it is that this sacredness is what all of life is imbued with. We are all connected, all related, all family.

With blessings and love,

💗

Molly