First Stories

Every day we create and add to our own personal story. We create that story from what we have learned from the very first story we were ever told. Indeed, First Stories set the tone.

Those of us from Judeo-Christian backgrounds understand the story of Creation as a succession of monumental actions over a short period of time by a powerful omnipotent God who, in the end, gives man complete dominion over everything He created. From there on it gets incredibly messy.

Other cultures have quite different creation stories. Ones that are participatory and relational. Ones that involve cooperation and interdependence. Those stories are generally found in indigenous cultures. Cultures that are closely connected to the physical world around them and who are acutely attune to it.

Whatever our background we tend to see our own individual stories through the lens of the initial story we’ve been told. That First Story makes a huge difference in how we perceive not only ourselves but the world around us, our place in it, and even the things that lay beyond.

When we see our role in the world, and our own lives, as dominant we make assumptions about our capabilities that may not necessarily be true. We end up like the hapless Wizard of Oz who pretends to have control even as the facts prove otherwise. We consume rather than preserve. We take rather than give. We become wealthy in the eyes of our fellows, but completely impoverished in our responsibility to them.

To see our role in the world, and our own lives, as relational enables us to become conscientious participants. Where cooperation and interdependence create a very different world than the one we see today. One where every individual understands that every action or inaction affects the whole. Where our Planet is nurtured instead of depleted. A world where respect and consideration create a world where all creation can thrive.

Windows of the Soul

“Eyes are the window to the soul” . . . or so they say.

These days that may be all you have when you talk to people, besides voice inflection and body language. The truth is people can hide what they’re feeling and thinking with their voice, hands, body posture and even mouth; but the eyes? It’s nearly impossible with the eyes. They connect to the truth of who we are in ways we don’t even realize.

During the day windows bring natural light into our homes. In the evening they display the warmth of human activity turning our windows into glowing embers of light.

When I lived in Bolton, Mass I would take long walks on winter evenings. There was something magically warm and comforting about the light emitted from the windows of the homes in my neighborhood. So striking in contrast to the frigid and forbidding outside. It made me wonder what was going on inside and the familial love that might be there.

I have known people with “bright lights” and “dead lights”. I’m sure you have too. These days of masks and socially distant conversation it’s hard to read a person sometimes. We’ll just have to pay a bit more attention to each other’s eyes, I guess, to really see what’s going on.

Maybe once we’ve developed better sensitivity to reading those kind of cues we’ll be less likely to let the brisk “I’m fine” pass when a person’s eyes say otherwise.

In the Time of Covid-19

What I’m learning about society from walking the park and watching the news each day:

1. Most people are willing to do what’s right.

2. There’s always few people who don’t care.

3. In general people have short attention spans and find it difficult to stick to one thing for any period of time.

4. A Politician’s attention span is even shorter and less informed.

5. The same people who can’t make a plan and stick to it are the same ones who never read directions when assembling exercise equipment purchased through Amazon.

6. As a rule women are more considerate about keeping the 6-foot social distance rule when walking the park path.

7. As a rule older men are more likely to expect everyone else to move as they walk down the middle of the path.

8. The same people who let their dogs come up to you uninvited in the park before Covid-19 still do.

9. That little kid on the bicycle whose parents are a hundred yards back has no idea what social distancing is.

10. There’s always that one guy who feels he’s entitled to do whatever he wants regardless of what’s happening in the world.

11. Camaraderie is more than just proximity.

Knowledge, Guidance, Action

These days are giving us a rare opportunity to get to know ourselves better, to cut through the usual noise to listen to the guidance that has always been available deep within our hearts, and to find the courage and strength to walk that path.

On the Other Side

​When the time comes we will not be returning to the old normal. We will create a new normal. A normal that will reflect the things we missed the most during this time of isolation. The closeness of family and friends without the barrier of distance, masks, and gloves. A new appreciation of moving freely through our day to enjoy eating out, going to the beach, attending sports and cultural events, going to movies, or simply sitting quietly in reflection. With a better sense of the sacredness of life and our place in it. Of the world and our responsibly to it. A profound realization that, by the grace of the Universe, we’re still here. That we made it to the other side. And so we’ll move forward, carrying with us a deep sense of loss as well as gratitude for having endured. And I hope (I so dearly hope) we’ll be kinder, wiser, and more compassionate because of it.