Sabbath Messages | Sabbath Message: January 31, 2004
Good Sabbath
January 31, 2004"Joys are our wings; sorrows our spurs." (Richter
Both can animate us and lift our souls, for one breeds happiness, the other gives birth to change and perspective.
This week I prepare for an unwelcome trip to the frigid East. Why any organization schedules a national meeting, in the dead of Winter, in the Northeast, befuddles my mind. But, if bronchitis is finally behind me (I do not trust that germ) and if it isn't blustery, I shall go.
But I'm not complaining (not much) ....
"For Thou, O Lord, has made me rejoice in Thy work;
How great are Thy deeds...
(92nd Psalm for the Sabbath)
I note that all 50 States now have a "Souper Bowl of Caring" to get churches to rally around the cause of hunger. Unless one fasts, one cannot comprehend the pain and sorrow attached to that condition. By witnessing it, the more affluent, the caring, can change the condition in one family or more. Personal action is better than a Super Bowl which often has more entertainment in its commercials than in its play.
I also note that 300 Monks have gathered above San Diego (in Escondido), at Thich Nhat Hanh's Deer Park Monastery. This gentle Man was exiled from his native Viet Nam for his anti-war efforts. Now aged 77, he is one of the most popular Buddhist leaders, with several books ("Anger", "Creating True Peace")
"In actual life every great enterprise begins with and takes its first forward step in faith." (Schlegel)
Some of his thoughts: "Mindfulness is the capacity to live deeply in the moments of your entire life."
"I think, first of all, Buddha is not a god. Buddha is a human being. He has suffered as a human being...His strength is as a role model". A role model is what we should aim to be, to live our lives so that its human nobility inspires others, especially the young, so that when God greets you in paradise, His soul is enlarged by our deeds.
On teaching children spiritual practices: "It can begin in the womb of the mother; you don't hear things which are violent and the husband treats the mother with kindness...children have an almost natural affinity for mindfulness." Our children echo our values, from the womb through adolescence; it is with them that we must become their role model, no matter who their sports heroes are.
On the art of happiness: The "art of happiness is to learn how to be there, fully present, to attend to your needs and to attend to the needs of your beloved ones." We are truly adults when we become as sensitive to others' needs as we do to our loved ones, then we have learned what the Golden Rule really means and we breathe life into it.
Buddha, perhaps, is the opposite of politics, which has always had a mean-streak, and now enriched by tons of money from special interests, it grows more powerful. As for me, the simplicity of this role model is the pathway to peace. I believe in the ultimate truth of kindness and the beauty of shining example, for God illuminates this example of human being so that we may find truth oft hidden within the darkness of doubt.
We can never always agree, otherwise our minds grow supple with acceptance, we dare not become that comfortable, otherwise human progress is gone. Debra J. Dickerson's new book, "The End of Darkness" is mind-reminding prose, which contains a wonderful sentence: "The last plantation is the mind". I love that; we place ourselves in our prisons, surrounded by mindlessness and lazy assumptions. To progress, the human story must have the thoughts of individual courage and audacity, as well as the coming together so that the good do not remain silent. We either change for the good or we become the collective sum of our fears. There is still time, I believe.
Our search for truth is not eternal, for the path is made brief when we remain humble within our success, appreciative for whatever our affluence, and always the teacher of our young. Our actions will remain with the young long after our words disappear into the wind.
Be especially human today, for the Sabbath demands who we are as we explore what it is possible to become.
sandy
