Published 12/13/09

 

God is Within.

 

Alone, we are ineffective; united, we are invincible

 

In his “Wise Thoughts For Every Day” Leo Tolstoy states “Try to direct all your good qualities toward helping others.  If you are strong, support the weak.  If you are wise, help those who are not.  If you are well educated, help those who have no education.  If you are rich, help the poor.”

 

It seems to me that American culture nurtures the attitude that if one has a particular advantage over his neighbor, he should use it to promote his own personal gain, rather than the common good.

 

This, I believe, has resulted in a society of isolated individuals and groups who are concerned with promoting only their own welfare and beliefs, while ignoring those of others.

 

I believe this to be the very root of all the anger and fear that is often expressed by many Americans.  Viewing ourselves as separate and isolated from others, we fail to see the common bond uniting not just all of humanity, but all of creation.

 

Did not Jesus say “…..the kingdom of god is within you”?  (Luke 17: 20-21) If we believe this, how can we curse someone without also cursing god?

 

The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh noted this connection while making a batch of cookies.  He said “I imagined that the moment each cookie leaves the bowl of dough and is placed onto the tray, it begins to think of itself as separate.  You, the creator of the cookies……know that they are originally all one, and that even now, the happiness of each cookie is still the happiness of all the other cookies.”

 

Remembering that we all possess the same strengths and weaknesses, albeit to varying degrees, might not angry words or actions be forestalled if, upon seeing the faults of another, we recognize those same faults within ourselves?