[Note: WordPress has changed something so that you might have to click on the title of the post to see the rest of the post. Sorry about that – trying to get that corrected.]
For this you are here, to reach across and open the way.
This is what my nondominant left hand wrote to me several years ago. Although it was in response to a question I had at the time, the statement has stayed with me. I wonder if this might always be our role in most any context, to find connection when none is apparent, to open possibility instead of close doors. I like the image of reaching, stretching forth our heart, if not our literal hand, beyond the boundaries of our familiar, comfortable borders, reaching across some obstacle or chasm of our own or someone else’s making, opening a passage where none was there before.
At a time when there is so much bemoaning certain conditions in the world around us, we might feel overwhelmed, like nothing we do could make a difference. I’m reminded of the story about hundreds of starfish that washed ashore and were dying on the dry sand. A person was walking the beach picking them up one by one and tossing them back in the ocean. A passerby ridiculed him, saying that there were too many to save and that nothing he did really mattered. Tossing another into the surf, the person replied, “It mattered to that one.”
Every time we choose connection over division, compassion over rejection, forgiveness over revenge, understanding over judgment, it matters. It matters whether or not we see particular results. It matters whether or not we are recognized, appreciated, thanked. It matters even if no one else knows what we’ve done. Every choice we make to extend love matters. For this we are here.
When our purpose is love, our path is clear. ~Harold W. Becker
great blog – and I love this quote – When our purpose is love, our path is clear. ~Harold W. Beck
Thank you, Esther.
“Every choice we make to extend love matters.”
In a post filled with insight and thought-provoking ideas, the quote above is my favorite.
Thank you Bob!
Love this post, Beth. It vibes with me deeply. I think it’s something I’ve always felt since being a girl, but society can decide you are being too open, too trusting, that you should be guarded, you should watch out. In this world that guardedness seems to have escalated, but what you describe is so human! And so important! A passing connection, a brief giving of a genuine smile. A spirit to spirit encounter with man or animal or plant. A conversation with a solitary elderly man on a different cafe table is an example from my yesterday. Also later in the afternoon, I and my swim buddy encountered a very ugly toad on the bank side. We watched him crawl at intervals off the path. He was so highly camouflaged he could so easily have been squished! But he was a reaching out encounter nevertheless. Thank you for the post!
I love the way you describe the myriad opportunities we have to make connection. It can be so simple and easy, yet have great impact. And like you said, it doesn’t always have to be person to person. Our connection is with everything, absolutely everything in the manifested universe and beyond. We just need to pause and notice. Thanks for commenting, Lynne.
Thank you, Beth. You and I are having online blog site communication problems, as I had to come back here to check to see if you got my comment and for your reply. I always copy and paste my replies into a spare word file in case replies go missing, which they often can. Never mind, we seem to still be in synch!
The blessing and the curse of technology! Yes, we will keep at it. Copying your comments is a great idea.